This law’s ramifications are not limited to Palestinians within Israel; it poses a broader threat to the West Bank, fueling a sense of fear and uncertainty among Palestinians and endangering their national and geographic future amid ongoing policies of displacement and cleansing.

 

The connection between this law and the reality in the West Bank is evident in several critical aspects:

 

First, the law legitimizes the principle of collective punishment and silent expulsion — a strategy long familiar to Palestinians since the Nakba of 1948. Legal deportation of Palestinians from within Israel parallels daily practices of the occupation in the West Bank, including arrests, forced displacement, and land confiscation. Together, they form a unified strategy to diminish the Palestinian presence, whether inside the state or in the occupied territories.

 

Second, promoting “national loyalty” as a criterion for citizenship revives and reinforces apartheid-style policies. It deepens the divide between Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship and those in the West Bank and Gaza, further weakening national unity in the face of occupation.

 

Third, the law signals a dangerous shift in Israel’s policy toward Palestinians. It’s no longer just about direct security targeting, but also dismantling legal foundations that protect basic rights. This trend undermines stability in the West Bank, where many now feel the occupation is deliberately working to dismantle Palestinian social cohesion using oppressive legal tools.

 

Amid growing tensions in the West Bank, such a law is likely to inflame popular anger and escalate resistance, potentially leading to a renewed cycle of violence. Palestinians view the law as a collective attack that reopens the wounds of forced displacement under the guise of security — a narrative increasingly hard to justify by any local or international authority.

 

In conclusion, Israel’s expulsion law targeting Palestinians of 1948 is far from an internal matter. It is part of a broader systemic effort by the occupation to dismantle Palestinian identity and presence everywhere. The Palestinian response must therefore be unified and coordinated — from within the 1948 territories to the West Bank — to confront these policies threatening the very existence and future of the Palestinian people. Now more than ever, the international community must step in to oppose these practices that blatantly violate international and humanitarian law, and which place all Palestinians under the threat of displacement and repression.