Israeli army launches new operation in northern West Bank

RAMALLAH

Israeli soldiers are search an ambulance during an army raid in West Bank village of Tamun, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025.

The Israeli military on Nov. 26 announced a new "counterterrorism" operation in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and internal security service, Shin Bet, said in a joint statement that they "began operating as part of a broad counterterrorism operation in the area of northern Samaria,” using the Israeli biblical term for part of the West Bank.

The officials said the operation was new and not part of its counterterrorism operation launched in January 2025, which primarily targets Palestinian refugee camps.

Following statements from the IDF and Shin Bet, the Palestinian Wafa News Agency reported that Israeli forces conducted operations in Tubas, Aqaba and Tammun.

According to Wafa, the troops raided multiple homes, causing damage and looting and were reinforced with heavy military equipment.

The report added that bulldozers were used to block main and secondary roads with earth mounds, while security measures at several checkpoints were tightened, restricting civilian movement and causing traffic congestion.

Helicopters were reportedly deployed intermittently during the operation, though no injuries were reported.

The operation came after Israeli forces killed Sultan al-Ghani near Jenin in the northern West Bank. He was identified as the assailant behind the 2024 murder of an Israeli security guard.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.

It has not ceased despite the fragile truce in effect in Gaza since Oct. 10.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war.

At least 44 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.

Last week, Human Rights Watch said that Israel’s expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps in early 2025 amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The rights group said about 32,000 residents of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces during "Operation Iron Wall" in January and February.