Israel’s army begins major operation in the West Bank

The Israeli military is taking massive action against militant Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. It is unclear how long the largest operation in the area since the start of the Gaza war will last.

Israel has launched a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank, in which at least ten people were killed, according to official Palestinian sources. The army said it entered several towns during the night, including Tulkarem and Jenin.

According to media reports, the military deployed drones and snipers in addition to numerous infantrymen, destroyed infrastructure with bulldozers and blocked all access routes to Jenin. There were firefights with armed Palestinians. Several wanted Palestinians were arrested.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, seven dead people were taken to a hospital in Tubas, also in the northern West Bank. The ministry also confirmed two deaths in Jenin and another in a town near the city.

According to Israeli and Palestinian media, the security forces also surrounded hospitals in both cities and blocked ambulances. The army is controlling access to the hospital buildings to prevent militants from entrenching themselves there, an Israeli army spokesman said.

The reason for the operation was a recent significant increase in the number of attacks on Israelis that had originated in the northern West Bank, the spokesman said. He also referred to the recent explosion of an explosive device in Tel Aviv, in which the attacker was killed and a passerby injured.

According to Israel, the target of the large-scale operation, especially in Jenin and Tulkarm, is an Iranian-backed terror network. Both cities are considered strongholds of militant Palestinians. Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost eleven months ago, around 150 attacks with firearms and explosives have been carried out on Israelis from there alone, said the military spokesman.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote to X: “We must deal with the threat in the same way as we deal with the terror infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians.” It is “a war in every sense, and we must win it.” The army spokesman said he was not aware of any possible evacuation plans for the civilian population in the northern West Bank.

According to information from the “Times of Israel”, the military operation could last even longer. According to sources in the army, it is planned to last several days.

“Since last night, the Israeli army has been taking action with all its might against an Islamic Iranian terror network in the refugee camps of Jenin and Tulkarem,” wrote Foreign Minister Katz. Iran is working to build up an eastern terror front against Israel in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) similar to what it has done in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon “by financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons via Jordan.”

During an operation in the refugee district of Nur Shams in Tulkarem, Israeli forces accidentally damaged a water pipe when they uncovered buried explosive devices, according to the army. The water supply comes from other sources. The military is allowing residents to leave the area, it said. However, Israel’s military stressed that there were no orders for them to do so.