Israeli occupation forces launched a sweeping military operation in the northern occupied West Bank early Wednesday, storming villages, enforcing curfews, displacing families, and converting civilian homes into military posts under the pretext of counterterrorism.
In a joint statement, the Israeli army, the Shin Bet intelligence agency, and occupation border police claimed they had launched a “broad counterterrorism operation” overnight, focused on what they call the “Group of Five Villages,” including Tubas and Tammun.
“The military and security forces will not allow terrorism to establish itself in the area and are working proactively to thwart it,” the statement read—a familiar refrain used to justify escalating violence against Palestinian communities.
According to Israeli authorities, the operation is expected to last several days, featuring house raids, arbitrary arrests, and sweeping searches based on so-called intelligence.
In Tubas, northeast of the West Bank, Israeli forces imposed a military lockdown, sealing the town off from surrounding areas. Soldiers raided homes, forcibly evicted families, and turned civilian properties into military outposts, according to local eyewitnesses.
In response, the Tubas Directorate of Education shut down all public schools and kindergartens on Wednesday, citing safety concerns for students under military occupation.
This new assault follows the earlier Israeli military campaign known as “Operation Iron Wall”, launched at the start of the year and aimed at refugee camps in the northern West Bank. That campaign killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands of refugees from Jenin and Tulkarm camps.
According to Human Rights Watch, over 32,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced due to Iron Wall, with no safe return options provided.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the US administration, though without tangible consequences. Last month, over 40 Democratic senators, led by Sen. Adam Schiff, called on President Donald Trump to take a stronger stance against Israel’s annexation ambitions.
In September, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar renewed threats to annex the West Bank, accusing the Palestinian Authority of “encouraging terrorism” and asserting it “does not deserve a state.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately impose Israeli sovereignty over 82% of the West Bank, pushing Palestinians into only 18%.
In July, the Israeli Knesset floated a non-binding motion, 71–13, calling for the formal imposition of Israeli law on the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The measure declared the region “an inseparable part of the Jewish people’s historic homeland” and urged strategic steps to cement colonial control and advance what Israeli lawmakers call “national security.”
In October, the motion passed into an approved bill with 25–24 votes in favor in the Knesset.
Smotrich had previously declared that 2025 would be ‘the year of sovereignty’ over so-called “Judea and Samaria”, the settler term used to erase the reality of Israeli occupation.
In February, Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives introduced legislation to ban the term “West Bank” in official government documents and replace it with “Judea and Samaria,” further legitimizing Israel’s claim to the occupied Palestinian territory.
