Why did Israel launch its largest West Bank assault since Second Intifada?

At least 10 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on Wednesday, in what has been described as the largest Israeli raid on the occupied territory since the Second Intifada, which took place over two decades ago.

Jets bombed cities in the West Bank and ground forces moved in late on Tuesday and early Wednesday, focused mostly on the northern parts of the occupied territory, with the cities of Tulkarem and Jenin as particular targets.

Tubas and Nablus also witnessed violent incursions with at least 15 people wounded, health officials say.

Military sources say the operation is expected to "last several days", The Times of Israel reported.

The raid appears to be the first of its kind since the Palestinian uprising took place between 2000 and 2005, with several cities simultaneously targeted.

The last similar raid, the 2002-launched Operation Defensive Shield, killed 497 Palestinians and lasted well over a month.

Why did the Israeli army carry out such a large-scale raid?

Israeli security forces allege that Palestinian groups, who regularly target Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, are in possession of explosives and weaponry and that disarming the fighters was the "main reason" behind the operation, dubbed "Summer Camps" by the military.

The Israeli Army Radio quoted the Israeli military as saying that "previous campaigns did not achieve results", prompting them to "carry out something that would change the reality in the West Bank".

Israeli forces added they "do not want the West Bank to become a front that would hinder us from fighting in Gaza and Lebanon".

The Israeli army, in a statement on X, called the event "a joint counter-terrorism operation with Shin Bet", accusing the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarem of being used to "manage terrorist activity to harm our forces operating in the field".

Foreign Minister Israel Katz claimed the operation was carried out to "thwart Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructure that have been established there".

More strikingly, however, were Katz's calls for the displacement of Palestinians from north of the West Bank. 

"We must address this threat with the same determination used against terror infrastructures in Gaza including temporary evacuation of residents and any necessary measures. This is a war, and we must win it," he added.

The army claimed that explosives were found, and subsequently "neutralised", and weapons seized.

It also claimed that an alleged attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on 18 August was carried out by a "network" based in the Tulkarem area.

The UN and human rights organisations have condemned the use of airstrikes and heavy military force, which they say violates international humanitarian law. They accused Israel of attempting to consolidate control over the West Bank amid a huge spike in settler violence against the indigenous Palestinian population.

The UN office warned that the situation in the occupied West Bank "could worsen dramatically if [Israel] continue[s] to systematically use unlawful lethal force and ignore violence perpetrated by settlers".

"The [Israeli forces] use of airstrikes and other military weapons and tactics... is resulting in extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings and destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure," the statement added.

The military escalation comes just weeks after the Israeli government approved an unprecedented expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territory.
 

What did the Israeli army do?

Several Israeli military units were deployed for the operations, including the Kfir Brigade, the Duvdevan Commando Unit, combat engineers, and Border Police, The Times of Israel said, citing military sources, while drones and military helicopters were used in their attacks.

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in Jenin by the Border Police, while three were killed near the village of Misiliya in a drone strike near the city, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), who retrieved their bodies, confirmed.

Four others were killed in another drone strike at the Far'a refugee camp, south of Tubas, while eight people were injured, the Turkish Anadolu agency said, with Israeli drones bombing the site before armed soldiers moved in.

Further drone strikes wounded at least two in Tulkarem's Nur Shams camp.

The tenth Palestinian casualty has yet to be identified, while the Palestinian health ministry expects the death toll to rise.

In Qalqilya, Israeli soldiers stormed several neighbourhoods and raided homes, eyewitnesses added.

In videos shared online, Israeli bulldozers could be seen ploughing through Palestinian land, roads and properties, causing damage.

Images and videos also showed smoke billowing from several buildings in the West Bank, as many were fire.

Blocking, raiding hospitals

Israeli Forces encircled several medical facilities in the West Bank seeking to treat those wounded amid the operation.

Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarem, before proceeding to search one vehicle.

Similar incidents were reported in Jenin, as the Israeli army attempted to obstruct ambulances and medical personnel.

How did Palestinians react?

The large-scale raids were condemned by the Palestinian presidency, with spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh, saying the violence carried out by Israel will "lead to dire and dangerous results".

In a statement obtained by Wafa, the official said that Israel's continued aggression "will not bring security and stability to anyone," and called on the US to "intervene immediately and force the occupation authorities to stop their comprehensive war on the Palestinian people".

"The world must take immediate and urgent action to curb this extremist government that poses a threat to the stability of the region and the world as a whole," Abu Rudeineh added.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decried the events, saying they constitute a "blatant violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, amounting to war crimes".

Hamas, the Palestinian Authority's rival, described the expanded military operation in the northern West Bank as "a practical attempt to implement the plans of the extremist government and expand the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip to include cities, towns and camps in the occupied West Bank," according to The New Arab's Arabic-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Israel's violence against Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza is "a natural result of international silence about [Israel's] flagrant violations of all international laws and its deliberate targeting of defenseless civilians with the intent of extermination and displacement, and its reliance on absolute political and military support from the US administration and some Western capitals", it added.

The raids occurred as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Saudi Arabia, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza.

Abbas has since cut short his visit and returned to the West Bank, according to Palestinian media.

The latest operation comes two days after Israel said it carried out an airstrike on the West Bank which killed five people.

Israeli forces have carried out near-daily raids on the West Bank since the army waged its war on Gaza on 7 October with at least 637 Palestinians killed in the occupied territory since then, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. 

Such incursions initially intensified in 2022, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power, which saw the country's most far-right government established.

Wednesday's operation comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas take place, threatening to extinguish the already fraught process.