Israel threatens full-scale war against Palestinian Authority over potential attacks

Jerusalem: Israel has warned the Palestinian Authority of launching a full-scale war if it prepares an attack similar to Hamas' October 2023 assault on Israel from Gaza. Defence Minister Israel Katz made the threat following a stabbing incident in the northern West Bank, in which a Palestinian assailant was killed by Israeli forces.

Since 1967, Israel has occupied the West Bank, a region where recent months have witnessed a surge in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, often with minimal legal repercussions. If the Palestinian Authority's security mechanisms or related bodies plan to carry out a terror attack resembling the Oct 7 incident, the Israeli military will prepare for a full-scale war.

The targets will include the senior leadership and terror infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, as well as all terror-related activities in the West Bank. This operation would mirror the current Israeli military presence in Gaza and southern Lebanon, known as 'security zones'. The Israeli military has already shot and killed a Palestinian assailant who stabbed an Israeli settler in the northern West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that no terrorist can hide and that Israel will continue to eliminate terrorists and destroy their infrastructure in Judea and Samaria. In response to the attack, Hamas called for escalating resistance and engaging with enemy soldiers and settler gangs. The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people and took 251 hostages, 44 of whom have since died.