New Israeli “large scale” offensive in West Bank underway as Trump drops sanctions on settlers

An Israeli military operation in a built-up refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed at least seven people Tuesday, according to Palestinian health officials, as the Israel Defense Forces announced a new “large scale” offensive in the area on the third day of a ceasefire in the smaller Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which unlike Gaza has long been militarily occupied by Israel and is not controlled by Hamas, reported the deaths from the new IDF operation.

In a statement released by his office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said IDF and police forces “launched an extensive and significant military operation to eradicate terrorism in Jenin.”

Dubbing the operation “Iron Wall,” Netanyahu called it “another step towards achieving the goal we set — strengthening security” in the West Bank and acting “methodically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever it sends its arms.”

Throughout the 15-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Jenin has been a focus of Israeli raids into the occupied territory. The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, launched its own raid into the area late last year.

Violence in the West Bank has surged during the war in Gaza, with Israel saying it is operating to stamp out Iranian-backed militancy. The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 800 people have been killed in Israeli raids in the West Bank there since the war began after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Several Israelis have also been killed recently in attacks by Palestinians.

 The IDF launched its new operation hours after President Trump rescinded Biden-era executive orders that had authorized U.S. sanctions against people who undermine peace in the occupied West Bank, mainly targeting Israeli settlers

The Biden administration used the executive order to impose a handful of sanctions on extremist settlers accused of using violence against Palestinians who live in the West Bank. 

Israeli settlements and smaller outposts across the West Bank are illegal under international law. The U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice, ruled last summer that Israel should stop settlement activity and end what it called the “illegal” occupation — a ruling that was not legally binding, and which was condemned by the Israeli government.

Settlers have celebrated the incoming Trump administration, believing it will take a more favorable approach to illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory.

During his first term, Mr. Trump took unprecedented steps to support Israel’s territorial claims, including recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there, and recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.

After Mr. Trump’s reelection in November, Israel’s far-right minister of finance suggested the country would look to annex the occupied West Bank in 2025.

Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Israel’s far-right Religious Zionist Party, said at the time that he believed Israel could work with the second Trump administration to promote annexation of the West Bank.

“I am convinced that we will be able to work closely together with President-elect Trump and all members of the incoming administration, to promote the common values and interests of the two countries, to strengthen the strength and security of the State of Israel, to expand the circle of peace and stability in the Middle East out of strength and faith and on the basis of recognition in the unquestionable historical belonging of the whole Land of Israel to the people of Israel,” he said in a social media post.

The settlements seen as a barrier to a potential two-state solution, the longstanding U.S.-backed policy that envisions the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, because the more Israeli Jews live in the occupied territory, the less likely it seems that Israel would ever abandon control of the land for it to become part of a Palestinian state.