Will the Israel-Palestine War Expand?... Warning of Frontline Expansion in the 'Jordan River West Bank'

Hamas Followed by Second Largest 'Islamic Jihad'
Prolonged Conflict Likely to Increase Israel's Burden

As Israel's ground forces are poised to enter the Palestinian Gaza Strip, another Palestinian armed group, Islamic Jihad, rather than Hamas, has announced plans to expand the front line to the West Bank. Concerns are growing that the war, triggered by Hamas's surprise attack on Israel, could intensify with an expanding front.

On August 21 (local time), Israeli soldiers are conducting an on-site investigation on Highway 60 near Hebron in the West Bank, Palestine, where a shooting incident occurred. According to the Israeli emergency medical services, an armed assailant fired at a moving vehicle, killing a woman in her 40s and seriously injuring the male driver, also in his 40s.

On the 12th (local time), according to the American news magazine Newsweek, Abu Hamza, spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, stated that this war will no longer be confined to the Palestinian Gaza Strip but will soon spread to the West Bank. The West Bank, a disputed area between Palestinians and Israelis, has been occupied by Israeli forces since 1967.

Islamic Jihad is the second largest armed group in Palestine after Hamas, and the two organizations are militarily allied.

Spokesperson Hamza declared, "We officially include the West Bank in the 'Al-Aqsa Flood Operation' area," adding, "Battles will soon take place throughout this region," according to Iran's Mehr News Agency.

The Al-Aqsa Flood Operation refers to Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on the 7th, in which Islamic Jihad also participated.

So far, attacks have occurred between southern Israel and the adjacent Palestinian Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, tensions are rising as reports circulate that Palestinians shot two border police officers causing casualties, and that Jewish settlers are preparing attacks against Palestinians.

If the front expands to the West Bank and Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful armed group bordering northern Israel, joins the war, Israel will face the heavy burden of fighting on multiple fronts. Israel is currently preparing to deploy ground forces into the Gaza Strip, which remains under full blockade and ongoing airstrikes.

Guy Ziv, deputy director of the Israel Studies Center at American University, analyzed that Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, does not want to involve the West Bank, which he cannot control and which is a 'spark' in this war.

Although parts of the West Bank are under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, the authority's influence has diminished, and turning this area into a battlefield would be detrimental to both Israel and Palestine.

Deputy Director Ziv said, "Israel is focused on destroying Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but it cannot ignore the situation in the West Bank."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.