Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened the Palestinian Authority with “full-scale war” if it prepared to attack Israeli forces or Jewish settlements in a manner similar to the assault launched
by Hamas from Gaza on October 7, 2023.
“If… the Palestinian Authority’s security mechanisms and related bodies initiate, or we know with certainty that they are about to initiate, a terror attack in the style of October 7 against IDF forces and Jewish settlements — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to prepare for the opening of a full-scale war,” Katz said in a statement from his office, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
Katz said the military campaign would target the “senior leadership and mechanisms” of the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as well as “all terror infrastructure” in the territory.
He said the operation would include “targeted killings of senior figures” and the “evacuation of residents from the cities and villages from which terror activity is carried out”, followed by a permanent Israeli military presence in those areas.
The remarks from Defence Minister Israel Katz came after a stabbing attack in the northern occupied West Bank, with the Israeli military saying it had shot and killed the Palestinian assailant.
Violence has surged in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, after Hamas’s October 2023 attack sparked the war in Gaza. Recent months have seen soaring attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, often with little or no legal consequence.
