Israeli army launches large-scale operation in N. West Bank

Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a large-scale military operation in the West Bank city of Tubas, Nov. 26, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank on Wednesday, imposing a curfew, setting up roadblocks, and deploying military forces, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.

In a joint statement, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency said they "began operating as part of a broad counterterrorism operation" in the area.

Israel often describes such raids in the West Bank as "counterterrorism operations" targeting individuals linked to Palestinian armed groups.

Meanwhile, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that a large-scale incursion began overnight, with significant numbers of Israeli forces and military bulldozers entering the city of Tubas and the towns of Aqqaba, Tammun, Tayaseer and Wadi al-Far'a.

As a result, all government and private institutions, government schools and kindergartens in Tubas are closed.

"For the first time in years, Apache helicopters are participating in the military operation, firing heavy machine guns toward residential areas," Ahmed al-Asaad, Palestinian Authority governor of Tubas and the Northern Jordan Valley, said in a press statement, calling the military operation "violations and collective punishment."

He said Israeli forces closed roads leading to the Tubas Governorate with earth mounds and military vehicles, adding that the troops raided several homes in the area, forced residents out, told them they could return after several days, converted the homes into military posts, and prevented some patients from accessing medical care.

According to a statement from Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa's office, the prime minister has instructed all relevant government bodies and emergency committees to respond to the effects of the operation and to mobilize available resources to meet citizens' needs and maintain essential services.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement have both condemned the military operation.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. The settlements it has built there, and its military occupation, are considered illegal under international law.

The West Bank has witnessed a sharp escalation of violence since Oct. 7, 2023, including near-daily assaults by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their property, as well as intensified Israeli military operations. The violence has resulted in the deaths of at least 1,082 Palestinians, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.