By Brian Brivati
Executive Director, Britain Palestine Project
6 March 2026
Major Israeli military operations tend to accelerate the existing structures of control that already govern Palestinians’ daily lives. These include movement restrictions, military incursions, settlement expansion, demolitions and legal-administrative measures affecting land ownership and governance. Since 28 Feb, following the escalation of the Israel–Iran conflict and the widening regional confrontation, a familiar pattern has re-emerged:
- Movement across the West Bank has tightened sharply through checkpoints and road closures.
- Night raids and arrests have continued across Palestinian communities.
- Settler violence has increased in frequency and intensity.
- Restrictions around major religious sites, including Al-Aqsa and the Ibrahimi Mosque, have intensified.
- Administrative and legal changes affecting land and governance in the West Bank continue to advance.
At the same time, the regional escalation has created additional humanitarian risks for Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon, particularly those living close to Israeli air operations in Beirut.
Taken together, these developments illustrate a broader dynamic: war acts as an accelerator of structural change within the occupation.
- Movement restrictions intensify
The most immediate wartime impact for Palestinians is the tightening of movement restrictions. Following the escalation of the regional conflict, numerous checkpoints and road gates across the West Bank were closed or reinforced, restricting movement between Palestinian cities and rural communities.
They disrupt:
- employment and economic activity
- access to hospitals and emergency services
- humanitarian operations
- access to religious sites
In several areas the restrictions effectively fragment the West Bank into isolated zones where movement depends on day-to-day military decisions. In the village of Qaryout, where two Palestinians were reportedly killed during a confrontation with settlers linked to land encroachment, ambulances were delayed in reaching the wounded because of movement restrictions. Such incidents illustrate how wartime closures reshape daily life and can directly affect humanitarian outcomes.
- Military raids and arrests continue under wartime cover
Israeli military operations in the West Bank did not pause with the opening of the regional conflict. Night raids and arrest operations have continued across multiple Palestinian communities. These operations typically involve pre-dawn incursions into towns and refugee camps, during which individuals are detained or interrogated. While the targets vary, the operations create a pervasive atmosphere of insecurity across communities. Recent reporting linked at least one fatality in Dura to an Israeli incursion during arrest operations.
In a separate incident near Qalqilyah, an 18-year-old Palestinian, Mohammad Shreim, was reportedly shot dead by an Israeli soldier on 28 Feb. These events highlight how the wartime environment does not reduce Israeli military activity in the West Bank. Instead, it often normalises it.
- Settler violence and territorial consolidation
Another consistent feature of wartime escalation in the West Bank is the rise in settler violence. Reports during the first days of the current conflict describe attacks across dozens of Palestinian communities involving:
- shootings and assaults
- threats and intimidation
- destruction of property and farmland
However, the most significant aspect of these incidents is their connection to territorial change. The events in Qaryout, where two Palestinian brothers were reportedly killed by armed settlers, occurred in the context of disputes over agricultural land and attempts to open new access routes connecting nearby settlements. This reflects a broader pattern in Area C, where territorial consolidation often occurs through a combination of:
- grazing expansion
- road construction
- new outposts
- intimidation of nearby Palestinian communities
When violence occurs alongside limited accountability, it contributes to what the United Nations has described as a “coercive environment” in which Palestinians face increasing pressure to abandon land.
- East Jerusalem: policing, demolitions and religious restrictions
East Jerusalem experiences wartime escalation in different but equally consequential ways. Security measures often translate into greater restrictions on access to religious sites, intensified policing and the acceleration of demolition and planning enforcement in Palestinian neighbourhoods.
In Silwan and other parts of East Jerusalem, demolition orders and settlement-linked projects continue to advance under a planning regime widely criticised for disproportionately restricting Palestinian construction. At the same time, access to Al-Aqsa Mosque has become more tightly controlled, particularly during Ramadan approaches. Restrictions on entry and increased policing heighten tensions around the compound.
In Hebron, access to the Ibrahimi Mosque has also been affected by wartime security measures. These developments demonstrate how wartime policies extend beyond military operations to affect religious practice, urban planning and civilian life in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
- Administrative and legal measures affecting land
Some of the most consequential wartime developments occur through administrative decisions rather than military actions. See BPP brief on measures aimed at expanding Israeli authority over land and governance in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including:
- E1 Tender process
- easing pathways for settlers to acquire land
- removing confidentiality restrictions from land registry records
- expanding enforcement powers into areas previously administered by the Palestinian Authority
- resuming land registration processes in Area C for the first time since 1967
These steps facilitate territorial consolidation and de-facto annexation. The significance of these measures lies not only in their immediate effects but in their permanence. Administrative changes introduced during wartime often endure long after military operations end.
- Regional spillover: Palestinian refugees exposed in Lebanon
The regional escalation has also created new humanitarian risks for Palestinian refugee communities outside the occupied territories. Israel’s intensive bombing of the Dahiya district in Beirut, a major Hezbollah stronghold, has taken place in close proximity to several densely populated Palestinian refugee camps.
These include:
- Bourj el-Barajneh
- Sabra
- Shatila
These camps house tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in extremely dense urban conditions with fragile infrastructure.
Even when camps are not directly targeted, nearby air strikes expose residents to:
- blast damage
- fires and structural collapse
- disruption to water and electricity networks
- limited access to medical services
The vulnerability of these communities highlights a broader regional reality: Palestinian refugee populations frequently experience the secondary humanitarian consequences of regional conflicts in which they are not direct participants.
- The cumulative effect: a three-layer pressure system
Taken together, the developments described above create a three-layer pressure system affecting Palestinian communities.
Military and policing pressure: Raids, arrests, closures and lethal force.
Settler pressure: Violence, intimidation, outposts, grazing expansion and road building.
Administrative and legal pressure: Demolitions, planning restrictions, land registration changes and expanded enforcement powers.
The interaction of these pressures gradually reshapes the territorial and political landscape.
War therefore functions not only as a military confrontation but as an accelerator of structural change in the occupied territories.
Policy implications
For policymakers observing the current regional conflict, the key question is not only what is happening at the front lines.
It is also:
- whether wartime measures are altering the administrative structure of the occupation
- whether new territorial facts are being established on the ground
- whether humanitarian conditions in Palestinian communities are deteriorating under wartime restrictions
These dynamics often receive less attention than military developments but can have long-term implications for the viability of any future political settlement.
The current regional escalation illustrates how war can reshape the political landscape of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict even when the primary battlefield lies elsewhere.