Israeli helicopters fire on Palestinian villages during massive Tubas military campaign

Israeli forces launched a large-scale raid on Tubas overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, with helicopters firing on the Palestinian villages and the military launching a full siege on the area, in the latest escalation in the occupied territory.

The Israeli military arrested scores of Palestinians, stormed villages and forced Palestinians out of their homes, as they turned residences into military outposts and enforced a curfew on the remaining residents.

Around 70,000 Palestinians in the northernmost area of the West Bank are now trapped in villages around Tubas, unable to leave their homes for medical treatment, work, or school.

Tubas’ governor, Ahmed al-Asaad, told The New Arab’s Arabic-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that "the occupation has begun a military operation in the governorate that will last for several days".

"They have erected earth mounds around the city, prohibiting the movement of people, and posing a threat to the lives of citizens, especially the elderly, the sick, and children."

He added that anyone who moved "was shot at" by Apache helicopters. No injuries or fatalities have been reported, but ambulances were present at the scene.                                                                                        

The raid also targeted the villages of Tammun, Aqaba, and Tayasir, as well as the Fara’a refugee camp in an area known as the "quintet of villages" in the northern West Bank.

Israeli forces have also seized control of all high-rise buildings in Tubas and Tammun, and ordered the closure of all government and private institutions.

Additionally, the Tubas Governorate's Directorate of Education announced the closure of all government schools, including early learning institutions, "to ensure the safety of students and staff".

The Israeli army said it was carrying out the raid, along with police and intelligence forces, as part of a "counter-terrorism operation", but declined to provide further details.

"The stated objective is a security operation and the pursuit of wanted individuals, although there are no wanted people in the governorate," al-Asaad said.

He stressed that "the real objective is to consolidate the status quo by seizing more of the governorate's land for settlement expansion".

Some Israeli media said that the army is looking to prevent Palestinian resistance groups from establishing a "presence" in the region, following attacks on Israeli forces in the occupied territory in recent weeks.

According to other Israeli outlets, the military operation in the Tubas area is set to resemble a similar intense campaign carried out in Jenin and Tulkarem earlier this year.

Yedioth Ahronoth said that the three military brigades of Menashe, Samaria, and Commando will lead the latest offensive in the West Bank.

The Israeli army has dramatically increased its raids and military campaigns across the West Bank since October 2023, in parallel with the deadly war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians.

More than 1,008 have been killed in the West Bank since then, while thousands have been arrested and placed under administrative detention.

Israel’s raids in the West Bank have displaced thousands of Palestinians, forcing them out of their homes and stifling any semblance of normal life.

Residents, activists and experts say Israel’s actions are part of a wider effort to forcibly displace Palestinians in the West Bank to make way for more Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned Israel’s raid on Tubas.

"This is part of the ongoing annexation and displacement plans through which the occupation seeks to transform West Bank cities and villages into besieged areas, in an attempt to recreate a security reality that serves the colonial control project," the movement said.

The Palestinian group called for "unifying popular, political, and field efforts to counter the occupation's policy of uprooting", and urged action from the international community.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, following an illegal invasion during the Six-Day War. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip as unlawful under international law.