The Israeli military announced on Wednesday it had launched a large-scale operation in the northern areas of the occupied West Bank, reported AFP.
In a joint statement, Israel’s military, internal security service (Shin Bet), and Border Police said they had begun “operating as part of a broad counterterrorism operation in the area of northern Samaria,” referring to part of the West Bank.
The new operation is separate from the “Iron Wall” counterterrorism operation launched in January 2025, which primarily targets Palestinian refugee camps, the Israeli army said. The operation has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military launched the new operation on Tuesday night in the West Bank’s Tubas governorate, with Israeli forces – backed by “an Apache helicopter” – raiding the towns of Tammun and Tayasir, in addition to the Al-Faraa Palestinian refugee camp.
“This is the first time that the entire governorate is included — the whole governorate is now under Israeli army operations,” Tubas governor, Ahmed Al-Asaad said.
“The army has closed the city entrances with earth mounds, so there is no movement at all,” he told AFP, noting that this was a “political operation, not a security one.”
Israel has built about 160 settlements, housing some 700,000 Jews, since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, violence has escalated in the occupied West Bank, leading to the killing of over 1,000 Palestinians by Israeli troops or settlers.
Commenting on the new military operation, Hamas and Islamic Jihad called it an attempt to crush “any Palestinian presence in order to achieve complete control over the West Bank.” They also called on the international community to intervene to stop it.
