West Bank in 2025: Escalating field repression amid Palestine’s diplomatic advances

Pars Today – The year 2025 presented Palestinians with a starkly contrasting reality: on one hand, an unprecedented increase in the international recognition of the State of Palestine; on the other, an intensification of a “parallel war” by the Israeli regime in the West Bank, marked by killings, demolitions, and extensive settlement expansion.

Developments in the West Bank in 2025 showed that the Israeli regime, amid growing political isolation on the international stage, pursued a strategy of intensified field pressure. While the Gaza conflict continued, Tel Aviv focused its military efforts on the northern West Bank, particularly Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm, making daily raids on cities and refugee camps a routine practice.

Official Palestinian statistics and United Nations reports indicate that around 250 Palestinians were martyred, thousands were arrested, and over 1,600 residential units were demolished in 2025—a trend that led to widespread displacement and the weakening of Palestinian social and economic structures. The “Iron Wall” operation, carried out from January to March 2025, which involved the renewed use of tanks in refugee camps, marked the peak of this military approach.

Alongside Israeli military operations, organized attacks by settlers and an unprecedented expansion of settlements further fragmented the geography of the West Bank. The establishment of dozens of new settlement hubs and the restriction of Palestinian movement with metal gates have seriously challenged the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state. At the same time, the limitation of UNRWA activities and the closure of its educational centers have intensified the humanitarian dimension of the crisis.

This escalation of field pressure stands in stark contrast to the political developments of 2025, a year in which several Western countries recognized Palestine, bringing the total number of recognizing states to 160. While these diplomatic gains have yet to produce tangible changes on the ground, they highlight the widening gap between the realities imposed by the Israeli regime and the diplomatic path supported by much of the international community.