Thread by @hahellyer

All eyes are on Netanyahu in Washington—focused on Iran, on U.S. escalation, and on Gaza, where despite a “ceasefire,” Palestinians are still being killed daily. But another consequential shift is elsewhere: Israel has all but annexed the West Bank in all but name. #Thread

Since Oct 7, Israel has accelerated a de facto annexation drive: expanded raids, tighter movement controls, record settlement approvals, and legalization of outposts. What was incremental is now systematic—turning temporary control into durable political and territorial change.

New cabinet measures formalize this shift: easing land sales to settlers and asserting decisive control over land use even in Areas A & B, once under PA administration. The goal, openly stated by key ministers, is to foreclose the possibility of a Palestinian state.

Settlement approvals have surged since 2023. Strategic corridors, bypass roads, and expanded municipal boundaries fragment Palestinian territory. The fast-tracked E1 corridor would sever the West Bank north from south, ending any realistic chance of territorial contiguity.

Smaller “security farms” and outposts—once illegal under Israeli law—are being legalized. Their purpose isn’t symbolic; it’s spatial. They seize land, block Palestinian development, and make coherent governance impossible. Annexation here is administrative, cumulative, and deliberate.

Settler violence has risen sharply—arson, assaults, vandalism—while enforcement remains weak. Administrative detention is no longer used against Jewish extremists. The signal is permissive. The effect is to accelerate Palestinian displacement and erode deterrence.

Annexation is not one dramatic declaration. It is land control, fiscal strangulation, legal extension, and security asymmetry—converting occupation into sovereignty without saying so. While focus remains on Iran and Gaza, the map of the West Bank is being redrawn in real time.