NETANYAHU ORDERS ISRAELI ARMY TO LAUNCH ‘WIDE-SCALE’ OFFENSIVE IN OCCUPIED WEST BANK VILLAGES

Fri 24 July 2026:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that they had ordered the army to launch a “wide-scale military operation” in Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank.

In a joint statement, Netanyahu and Katz also said the army had been instructed to demolish the home of the Palestinian accused of carrying out a shooting attack against occupiers near the Palestinian town of Tell in the northern West Bank.

A large Israeli military force raided the city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

The measures followed a shooting near the illegal Havat Gilad settlement, close to Nablus, that killed an Israeli occupier and injured three others, according to Israeli media.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Palestinians had seized the weapon of a settlement security officer and opened fire on settlers.

At least four Palestinians and one Israeli died in the shootout, after settlers entered an off-limits area of the occupied West Bank area without coordinating with the army, in a move the latter described as “dangerous”.

Israel Army Radio said that the army’s investigation into the incident concluded that “the shooting at the Israelis was not planned”.

Netanyahu and Katz said that they would be “conducting intensified military operations in villages that Israel considers ‘terror hubs’, including weapons seizures, revoking work permits and other measures”.

The two men said they would be reinforcing Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank and “separating traffic routes and setting up additional checkpoints”.

They would also be “accelerating the legalization of agricultural settlement outposts and establishing new ones”.

The two officials said Israeli security forces must be allowed to operate freely and with “maximum force”.

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Israeli minister Smotrich urges army to act with ‘iron fist’ after West Bank outpost shooting

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has demanded that the military act with an “iron fist” against the village he said was responsible for a deadly shooting attack at the Havat Gilad settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank.

“A tough morning near Gilad Farm,” Smotrich wrote on social media platform X. “I send my heartfelt condolences to the family of the murdered, pray for the recovery of the wounded in the attack, and embrace the residents and hikers.”

“I demand that the IDF [Israeli army] act with an iron fist against the village of the murderers and its surroundings and restore governance and deterrence,” he added.

“The people of the farms and the heroic settlement pioneers are the defensive wall of the State of Israel. We will continue to strengthen and honour them for their steadfast stand for our existence in the Land of Israel against Arab terrorism.”

His remarks followed an attack earlier on Friday at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus, in which Israeli media reported that one Israeli was killed and three others wounded after Palestinians seized the weapon of a security officer and opened fire. Four Palestinians were also killed at the scene.

“We will not normalise the erosion of deterrence and the brazenness of our enemies in recent weeks against the pioneers of settlement and the farms,” Smotrich said.

Fatah blames Israeli government for surge in West Bank settler attacks

The Palestinian Fatah movement has accused Israel’s government of full responsibility for a surge in settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, Fatah said settler “gangs”, backed by Israeli forces, had carried out widespread recent attacks on multiple towns and villages, including Tal, Beit Furik, Deir Jarir, Al-Mughayyir and Jit, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding dozens. The movement said the violence reflects an organised government policy of forced displacement, land seizure and settlement expansion.

The escalation comes as Israel’s military campaign in Gaza continues, with Fatah linking the two fronts as part of a ”single colonial project”. The movement specifically named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of providing political and military cover for settler crimes.

Fatah said recent attacks have included the torching of homes and farmland, shootings, property destruction and the uprooting of trees – tactics, it said, which were aimed at spreading terror and pushing Palestinians off their land. The movement also cited provocations at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, led by Ben-Gvir.

The group urged the United Nations, Security Council and International Criminal Court to provide international protection for Palestinians and end what it called a “policy of impunity”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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