The IDF is considering reducing its presence in the West Bank following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Ynet reported on Thursday.
Following the October 7 massacre, Israeli military presence in the West Bank was intensified, specifically in regards to securing settlements in the region. Now, the IDF is looking to hand much of that responsibility over to local security forces.
IDF officials explained to Ynet that no definitive decisions have been made yet, but meetings and safety assessments between the IDF Central Command and community leaders have reportedly been in progress over the past months.
Central Command officials assured that over the course of the past two years, security “shaping operations” that improved technological security components surrounding settlements and included arming hundreds of settlers were implemented.
Ynet shared that officials could not sustain the same increased level of military involvement that the area had seen since the October 7 attack.
Residents fear security gaps
MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionist Party) sent a letter to the IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, warning of “significant gaps” between the defense needs of settlements and the security forces allocated, should IDF presence be reduced, according to Ynet.
The letter addressed “several fundamental problems, including his belief that small settlements may not have the resources to fund and run their own local security forces, dubbing it “unacceptable to suddenly impose such high costs on citizens for their personal safety.”
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit responded to the letter, reiterating that security assessments have been conducted in order to obtain an accurate picture of security needs in the area.
They reassured that regardless of possible changes in the number of deployed personnel, communities in the West Bank are “well-equipped” with “trained emergency response teams” and that “the defense infrastructure of the settlements has been improved.”
West Bank annexation
On Wednesday, the Knesset advanced a controversial bill to apply Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the bill, warning that it may endanger the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal that finally brought over two years of war to an end earlier this month.
US President Donald Trump, one of the main facilitators of the deal, threatened to pull all US support for Israel if Israel makes moves to annex the West Bank in a Time Magazine interview on Thursday.