After Gaza truce, Israel says West Bank raids mark next front with Iran
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.
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.
"Iran has never discussed its military capabilities with anyone and never will," spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, when asked if Iranian diplomats had addressed potential missile limitations during their meeting with European representatives last week.
The issue of limiting the country's long-range missiles has been a topic of discussion for years.
When the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement was signed, Tehran committed not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. The United Nations recognizes the agreement as part of Resolution 2231, which formalized the terms of the JCPOA.
“Paragraph 3 of Annex B of resolution 2231 (2015) calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology,” it reads in part.
Iran has continued the research and development of ballistic missiles, insisting that these missiles are not intended to carry nuclear weapons.
During Donald Trump's first term as president, the administration demanded that Iran halt its missile program as a precondition for negotiating a new nuclear agreement following its withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018.
In 2024, amid rising tensions in the region, Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel on two occasions. While most of the missiles were intercepted by Israel and its allies' air defense systems, a few caused damage inside Israel.
Although Tehran has not developed nuclear weapons, expert have cautioned that its ballistic missiles could be modified to carry warheads if it chooses to pursue them in the future, potentially following the North Korean model.
Tehran, already burdened by international sanctions, is bracing for an even tougher sanctions regime as Donald Trump makes his return to the White House. This has prompted growing calls from some Iranian government officials and politicians for negotiations with the incoming administration to ease US sanctions.
In comments to reporters, Baghaei repeated previous threats by Tehran that if UN sanctions are brought back this year as part of the JCPOA “snapback mechanism,” Iran might withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, however, has yet to signal any willingness to compromise on key issues, such as high-level uranium enrichment or the ballistic missile program.
When a reporter asked the spokesman about leaving the NPT as a retaliatory option, Baghaei said, "If the snapback mechanism is used as a tool to pressure Iran or extract concessions, our response will be proportional. It has been clearly stated that any misuse of this mechanism means there will no longer be justification for Iran to remain in certain existing agreements. This position has been expressed before as well."