Israel faces impending crisis on Egyptian border, West Bank as Gaza war looms

The West Bank and the Egyptian border have the potential to boil if certain threats are not discussed – and the problems are different at each place.

While Israel has been fighting in Gaza for more than 23 months, other borders and areas have become increasingly unstable and constitute a threat. This is particularly true with regard to the West Bank and the Egyptian border.

The two areas have the potential to boil if some threats are not treated. The problems are different at each place.

In the West Bank, the challenge is to maintain a low level insurrection. Israel has managed to verify the attempted groups such as Palestinian Islamic jihad to carve out a control zone in the north of the West Bank. This took several years to accomplish, between 2021 and early 2025.

The attacks of groups of Jenin and Nablus and other places were supplied by illegal weapons that have flowed the West Bank. A large number of M-4 or M-16 type rifles as well as modern handguns have moved into the hands of terrorist groups.

A new phenomenon in the West Bank is the attempt at terrorist groups to build small rockets. This is a new problem and which reflects what happened in Gaza in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As such, it is clear that terrorists seek to innovate and change. In the early 2000s, the main threat to the West Bank came from suicide bomber and some firearms.

Now things change. The enemy changes and seeks to find ways to thwart Israel. Recent attacks show that this is the case. They generally involve several armed terrorists.

The threat of smuggling of arms through the Egyptian border increases

While the West Bank will need continuous surveillance, a related threat comes from smuggling through the Egyptian border. Recent reports indicate that the size of the smuggling effort has increased and it is based on things such as drones to pass firearms or firearms.

The number of incidents increases and that seems to mean that there are many incidents per day. The full size of this elephant is probably not known, because an attempted smuggling that is prevented can only be part of the biggest problem. In essence, it is possible that we only saw the proverbial elephant legs and not the whole animal.

Egypt has focused on obtaining a Gaza agreement. Nor does he want Gazans to be pushed into Sinai. He has deployed more forces, but he focuses on Gaza. It is possible that the smuggling networks which once sought to help Hamas in Gaza now change operations. This feeds armed violence in Israel. Most of the murders are in the Arab community, but it will bouill one day.

Israel thus faces other threats closer to home. Israel has been concentrated for many years on threats of “third circle” like Iran. Israel was tarnished with precision air strikes and its ability to try to prepare to deal with Iran. Gaza has been overlooked and Hamas has been underestimated. Now Hamas is largely weakened in Gaza.

However, as Israel fought in Gaza for 23 months and spilled resources in the fight, it is possible that other areas closer to the center are ignored. What it means is perhaps the Egyptian border and the smuggling networks of the West Bank and weapons that feed weapons in the Arab communities in Israel and the West Bank, are a serious problem.