Israel threatens “total war” against the Palestinian Authority in the event of attacks like October 7 on settlements
Israel has threatened to launch a “full-scale war” against the Palestinian Authority if it prepares an attack against Israeli forces or settlements, similar to Hamas’s assault on October 7, 2023. This warning came after a stabbing attack in the occupied West Bank’s northern region injured one person, before the Israeli military announced it had killed the attacker, a Palestinian.
In a statement on Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “If there is a change in direction and the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatuses and affiliated bodies begin launching a terrorist attack similar to the October 7 attack against Israeli Defense Forces and Jewish settlements, or if we are certain they are about to carry out such an attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have ordered the Israeli military to prepare for a full-scale war.”
According to Katz’s statement, this war would target “the senior leadership of the Authority, its apparatuses, and affiliated bodies,” which are based in Ramallah in the central West Bank.
The statement added that the comprehensive campaign against the Authority would be carried out through “assassinations targeting senior officials, the evacuation of populations from cities and villages from which terrorist activities originate, the elimination of terrorists, and the destruction of all terrorist infrastructure in those areas.”
According to the statement, this operation would mimic the “security zones” where the Israeli military operates in both Gaza and southern Lebanon, as well as several camps in the northern West Bank that have been evacuated.
The military had previously announced the launch of a pursuit operation in the northern West Bank after a Palestinian carried out a stabbing attack targeting an Israeli citizen.
The Israeli ambulance service reported that the victim, in his twenties, suffered injuries ranging from moderate to serious.
In a subsequent statement, the military confirmed that it had found and killed the attacker in the village of Qabalan.
At least 1,106 Palestinians, including some militants, were killed by soldiers or settlers’ fire, according to a tally by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on Palestinian Authority data.
Conversely, official Israeli data shows that at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and military personnel, were killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians or during clashes with Israeli forces.
In a related development, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov told the Heliopolis Forum in Abu Dhabi on Monday that the failure to make progress in Gaza, coupled with escalating violence in the West Bank, renders the two-state solution “impossible.”
The Peace Council was established by US President Donald Trump and is tasked with implementing the ceasefire plan agreed upon in October between Israel and Hamas.
Mladenov emphasized, “If Gaza remains as it is now, or if the plan we have is not implemented (...), the two-state solution will practically become impossible.”
He added, “Because, with everything happening in the West Bank, and with more than 50 percent of Gaza currently under the control of the Israeli military and less than 50 percent under Hamas’s control, there is no reliable path leading to a political resolution of the conflict.”
Hamas agreed in late July to a US roadmap aimed at launching the second phase of the peace plan, which stipulates its disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
However, Tel Aviv has not approved the plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demands the complete disarmament of the movement before any withdrawal from the sector.
Excluding occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed, approximately three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, alongside more than 500,000 Israelis residing in settlements.
Mladenov emphasized, “The only way we can return to that is by having a transitional administration, disarming, and withdrawing from Gaza.”
On Sunday, US envoy and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said at a press conference in Kyiv that Israel’s upcoming elections make Israeli leaders “a little short on logic” regarding Gaza.
Adding, with reference to Israel, “We agree with them on the shape of the final status. They just have crazy elections, and this makes them a little short on logic in some respects, but we are very determined and working to get past these issues.”
He said, “You can’t enter if there are weapons,” adding, “We are now beginning to understand the scale of Gaza’s militarization. It goes beyond your capacity to absorb. Therefore, disarming it will not be easy.”
