TEHRAN – The Israeli regime is escalating its raids in the West Bank amid rising calls to formally annex the occupied territories.

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed the northern West Bank’s Tubas governorate again on Monday, imposing a sweeping curfew just a day after withdrawing from a four-day assault that forced Palestinians into a harsh lockdown.

The occupation regime’s troops spread through residential areas, raiding homes, converting several into military posts, and using bulldozers to tear up internal roads. This has effectively isolated large sections of the governorate, which announced the suspension of all schools, universities, and public-sector operations until further notice.

Residents had scarcely begun to assess the devastation left by the previous invasion—which caused widespread destruction, hundreds of injuries, and the abduction of dozens of Palestinians—when a new raid erupted. The return of the IOF has erased any hope of respite. 

These intensifying military actions including the point-blank execution of two men who surrendered come as the regime’s leadership publicly doubles down on annexation goals. 

Finance and settlement policy minister Bezalel Smotrich has repeatedly declared that the regime will extend its illegal control over the West Bank, claiming that the territory must be fully integrated under the Zionist administration. 

Over the past year and a half, he has moved key parts of the West Bank’s governance from military oversight to a so-called civilian administration, a change many see as laying the groundwork for formal annexation.

Smotrich’s actions have shifted how the West Bank is run in ways that make daily life extremely difficult for Palestinians. By moving key powers from the military to a new “civilian” body he controls, he has made it easier to expand illegal settlements and smaller settler outposts. 

This change reduces oversight, speeds up the Zionist regime’s land approvals for settlers, and increases the risk of Palestinian homes being denied permits or demolished. It also means Palestinians have even less influence over planning, roads, and infrastructure in their own areas. 

Together, these steps blur the line between occupied territory and Israeli governance, creating “facts on the ground” that many see as preparing the area for formal annexation.

Security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has issued similar calls demanding the immediate annexation of the entire West Bank and advocating the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority. 

Such statements are no longer fringe rhetoric but policy ambitions increasingly reflected in on-the-ground measures, including the expansion of land grabbing, stepped-up raids, and more aggressive enforcement at military checkpoints that are choking life for the indigenous people of the land. 

For Palestinians, the combination of escalating military pressure, including the use of drones, and explicit annexation intent has created an environment of profound uncertainty. Daily life has been eroded by settler attacks carried out with impunity.

Hebrew media reported that ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israel Katz have decided to allow an additional 10,000 settlers to carry weapons. These weapons are used in settler crimes against Palestinian towns and villages.

Since Ben-Gvir assumed his post, the number of personal firearms permits for illegal settlers has risen by hundreds of thousands.  

Human rights groups warn that these actions amount to a coordinated effort to fragment Palestinian communities and entrench irreversible Israeli control. The regime’s measures amount to collective punishment, which is illegal under international law.

As Tubas residents face an open-ended curfew and brace for further aggression, many see their situation as part of a larger pattern sweeping the West Bank. 

The latest assault also mirrors similar tactics used in Jenin, Nablus, and al-Khalil (Hebron) and elsewhere over the past several years, signaling the occupying regime’s strategy focused on sustained, area-wide disruption rather than short, targeted operations.

In Tabus, a video has surfaced of the IOF abusing workers inside a restaurant, while a disturbing image shows the IOF converting a Palestinian family’s home into a makeshift detention and interrogation center.

In the face of such heinous actions Palestinians have no choice but to enforce an international right to challenge the illegal occupation with armed resistance.