Israel’s military announced on Wednesday that it had launched “a comprehensive counter-terrorism operation” in the northern region of the occupied West Bank.
What did the IDF say about the operation?
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that a joint operation by Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet and Israel Border Police had begun “in the area of Northern Samaria”, using the Israeli Biblical term for part of the West Bank.
“IDF and ISA forces will not allow terrorism to take root in the area and are actively working to thwart it,” the IDF said in a statement on Friday.
Violence in the occupied West Bank escalated significantly after Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank
More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. The settlements are considered illegal under international law.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli settlers or military forces since October 7, 2023.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said this month that Israeli settlers were responsible for at least 264 attacks on Palestinians and their property during the month of October, making it the worst month for settler violence since the UN began recording such attacks in 2006.
According to Israeli data, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank.
Perpetrators of settler violence are rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.
“We are seeing a complete abandonment of Palestinian life,” Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, said last week. “The international community must end Israeli impunity and hold those responsible for crimes against the Palestinian people accountable.”
A report published last week by Human Rights Watch said Israeli military operations in the West Bank have forcibly displaced 32,000 Palestinians from the refugee camps of Jenin, Nour Shams and Tulkarem since the beginning of this year.
Israel plans settlement expansion
Israeli settlements in the West Bank have drawn international condemnation. In August, Israel approved a plan allowing new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Under the plan, Israel will build approximately 3,500 new apartments to expand the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim.
The United Nations and Palestinian rights groups have warned that the plan would essentially divide the Palestinian territory and make any two-state solution untenable.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico