Netanyahu Calls for Escalated Offensive in the West Bank

At least 15 Israeli military vehicles stormed the city of Nablus in the West Bank, the site of a deadly shootout between settlers backed by Israeli forces and Palestinians on Friday. The incursion follows the Zionist Israeli government’s declaration of increased aggression in the Palestinian territory.

WAFA news agency reported that Israeli occupation forces also raided the Nablus Specialist Hospital. Dani al-Masri, deputy chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, told WAFA that Israeli forces surrounded the hospital, stormed the emergency unit, assaulted medical personnel, and handcuffed doctors and nurses.

A WAFA correspondent reported that a large number of Israeli military vehicles stormed the city of Nablus through the Huwwara military checkpoint and moved towards the Nablus Specialist Hospital, which remained under siege at the time of reporting.

In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said they had instructed the Israeli military to implement a series of measures in response to incidents in the occupied West Bank over the past 24 hours. The statement said they had ordered the ‘demolition of the homes of suspects in this morning’s shooting attack near the village of Tal’.

At least four Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in the shootout. The incident occurred after settlers entered a restricted area in the occupied West Bank without coordinating with the army, an act the military described as ‘dangerous’. Israeli Army Radio reported that a military investigation into the incident concluded that ‘the shooting of the Israeli was not planned’.

Netanyahu and Katz said they would ‘conduct intensive military operations in villages Israel considers to be ’centres of terror’, including weapons seizures, revocation of work permits and other measures’. The two men said they would reinforce Israeli troops throughout the occupied West Bank and ‘separate traffic routes and establish additional checkpoints’. They will also ‘accelerate the legalisation of agricultural settlement outposts and build new outposts’. The officials stated that Israeli security forces must be allowed to operate freely and with ‘maximum force’.