Days after the ceasefire in Gaza, Israel launched a major operation in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday to quash what it described as Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Jenin.
“We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever it extends its arms – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria and with our hands still outstretched," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Israel's longtime premier was using the Biblical names for lands on the west bank of the Jordan River seized by Israel in a 1967 war, otherwise called the West Bank.
Called Iron Wall, the operation involved the Israeli military, Shin Bet intelligence and Israel Police, with an airstrike targeting what Israel called terror infrastructure and a large ground operation.
Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported at least four dead and 35 injuries from the raid, citing the Ministry of Health.
It follows an extensive siege carried out by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) in recent weeks which had aimed to reduce the power of groups it opposes including Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Islamic Jihad.
On their Telegram channel, Hamas said on Tuesday: "The [Palestinian] Authority's apparatuses withdrew from the vicinity of Jenin camp, coinciding with the start of the occupation's military operation, after a siege that lasted more than 48 days."
Speaking in the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday he had given the green light to the operation.
"The Iranian axis that operated continues to operate to create terror by financing, directing and arming. I instructed the IDF to act forcefully to protect all the communities and residents [of the West Bank], and this is something that has been done and will be done in order to attack with great force in order to thwart terrorism."
Earlier this month, Israeli officials said archenemy Iran is pivoting toward arming Palestinian militants in the West Bank after the overthrow of Tehran’s ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and the weakening of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel’s Defense Minister said at the time: "Judea and Samaria has become a central arena in the map of threats to Israel and we are preparing to respond accordingly.
"We are seeing increasing efforts to promote Palestinian terrorism in Israel through the smuggling of advanced weapons, funding and guidance both on the part of the Iranian axis and on the part of the radical Sunni Islamic axis that is strengthening its grip on the region after the events in Syria,” he added.
In the latest 2024 statistics, Israel’s internal security agency the Shin Bet said it had thwarted 1,040 significant attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem during 2024, a 40 percent increase from the previous year, it said.
Since the Oct. 7 attack, dozens of Israelis and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank as violence continues to spiral.