Israel announces the launch of a major operation in the northern West Bank. The army accuses terrorist actions in the area
Destroyed building in Nablus after an Israeli operation Photo: APAImages / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
The Israeli army and internal security service announced in a joint statement on Wednesday “the launch of a large-scale anti-terrorist operation in the northern area of Samaria”, using the Israeli biblical term for part of the West Bank, reports AFP.
“The IDF and Shin Bet will not allow terrorism to take root in the area and are proactively acting to prevent it,” the press release said.
In this area of the West Bank, one of the two territories that make up the state of Palestine and which is governed by the Palestinian Authority as opposed to Gaza controlled by Hamas, violence has increased considerably since the outbreak of the Gaza War in October 2023.
The army said this operation is new and not related to the anti-terrorist operation “Iron Wall” launched in January 2025, which mainly targets Palestinian refugee camps.
The West Bank was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, the third Arab-Israeli armed conflict. More than 3 million people, mostly Sunni Muslims, live here.
Violence has not stopped in the West Bank despite a fragile ceasefire signed on October 10 to end the war in Gaza.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians – many of them militants, but also dozens of civilians – in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 44 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.
