Escalation: Netanyahu launches West Bank operation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a large-scale military operation in the West Bank after the killings in the village of Tell that left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead. He also pledged to speed up settlement construction alongside the campaign.

In the days that followed, Israeli forces raided several villages, detained dozens of Palestinians, and imposed tight travel restrictions that kept residents indoors. The army sent five companies to the territory and deployed two additional battalions on top of the 24 already operating there.

Troops sealed key routes around Nablus and expanded internal controls, with 925 checkpoints recorded across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a 43% jump over recent annual averages. Over the same weekend, settler reprisals spread to Palestinian communities, with arson attacks on homes and vehicles and four mosques set alight.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources