Israel sent reinforcements in the form of combat trainees to various fronts on Monday, as a senior military official warned of potential friction in the West Bank over the Jewish holiday season, which kicks off Monday night with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
The chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth warned Sunday night of an escalation due to the convergence of multiple factors, including “political declarations” — an apparent reference to the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western nations, and Israeli leaders considering annexing parts of the West Bank in response.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he would propose immediate annexation of the West Bank at the next cabinet meeting after the UK, Canada, Australia and Portugal announced their recognition of a Palestinian state on Sunday in a coordinated move. Six more nations were expected to make a similar step Monday.
“[There are] many challenges before us: the intense fighting in Gaza City, the defense in the north, and the constant struggle against terror in Judea and Samaria, and in addition, many vectors have recently converged that heat up the central arena, including political declarations, the holidays and the olive harvest, direction [of terror attacks] from abroad, and the inspiration and contagion of the lone perpetrator,” Bluth said at a ceremony marking 35 years since the establishment of the Border Police’s undercover West Bank unit.
“All these are not a reason for optimism, but I am full of hope, because I believe in you,” he said to the Border Police officers at the ceremony.
Due to concerns of escalation over the holidays, the IDF said on Monday that it was bolstering all fronts with dozens of companies of in-training combat troops.
The move comes following a “multi-front assessment,” the army said.
The IDF said it reinforced “the combat sectors with forces in the air, at sea, on land, and across all formations throughout the country.”
The combat trainees will remain deployed until after Sukkot in mid-October, before returning to their programs.
The move also comes amid tensions in the West Bank following deadly attacks in Jerusalem and the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan earlier this month.
Six people were murdered by two Palestinian terrorists at the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem on September 8, and two soldiers were killed by a knifeman driving a Gaza-bound aid truck through Allenby from Jordan on Thursday.
The Allenby Crossing reopened to pedestrians on Monday after remaining closed for four days after the deadly attack, the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement.
The crossing is still closed to humanitarian aid shipments en route to the Gaza Strip, however, until a Jordanian investigation into the attack at Allenby is completed and the inspection procedures for Jordanian drivers are updated.
On Sunday, Jordan briefly reopened the bridge, but Israeli authorities abruptly closed it again.
Separately on Friday, the IDF said it had caught a Palestinian terror cell in the Ramallah area of the West Bank that had been building rockets intended to be launched at Israeli targets.
In recent years, there have been several attempts by Palestinian terror groups to develop and launch crude rockets from the West Bank at Israeli settlements and at Israel, though with little to no success.
The Jewish High Holidays have been considered a time of heightened tensions in the West Bank even before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught on Israel that started the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The same period in previous years often saw closures of crossings between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza.