Israel orders plan to transfer West Bank civilian law enforcement to police amid annexation warnings

Israel's defence minister has ordered the military to prepare a plan to transfer civilian law enforcement in the occupied West Bank to the Israeli police. The move was announced on Friday and is being presented by officials as a change in how civilian matters are handled in the territory. It comes after criticism of the army's response to Israeli settlers who besieged a Palestinian home in the village of Qusra.

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Defence Minister Israel Katz said the army's role is to combat Palestinian terrorism and not to pursue what he described as "hilltop youth". The Defence Ministry said the police would establish a dedicated force to deal with these civilian matters. According to the supporting report, the decision followed scrutiny of the military's handling of the Qusra incident, although no further operational details were provided.

Palestinian officials and analysts have warned that the shift could accelerate annexation by replacing military occupation law with domestic civilian law. Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, said settlers are the "spearhead" of annexation and Judaization. He also argued that placing security in the hands of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and settlement policy under Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich would amount to handing the West Bank to settlers.

The change matters because the West Bank has long been governed under a military occupation framework, and any move to expand civilian policing there is likely to be read as politically significant. Analysts quoted in the report said the transfer could alter the legal reality of the territory by erasing the distinction between occupied land and areas governed by Israel's domestic institutions. That is why the decision has drawn immediate warnings from Palestinian figures who see it as part of a broader annexation process.

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The report also places the decision in the context of wider disputes over control, settlement activity and the role of armed settlers. It says critics view the policy as empowering settler groups while reducing the military's direct responsibility for civilian enforcement. The involvement of Katz, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich underscores how closely the issue is tied to Israel's current security and political leadership.

What remains unclear is how quickly the military will produce the requested plan and how the police force would operate on the ground. The report does not give a timetable, nor does it specify which civilian enforcement powers would be transferred first. The next developments to watch are any formal government approval, further reaction from Palestinian officials and whether the policy changes are implemented in Qusra or elsewhere in the West Bank.

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