IDF Launches West Bank Operation Following Bus Explosions

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched a military operation in the West Bank in response to deadly bus explosions, escalating regional tensions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed a military operation in the West Bank following the rapid explosion of three unoccupied buses in parking lots across Tel Aviv on Thursday night.

“The prime minister has directed the IDF to conduct an intensive operation targeting terrorism hubs in Judea and Samaria. Additionally, he instructed the Israel Police and the ISA to amplify preventative measures against further attacks within Israeli cities,” stated Netanyahu’s office in a release.

The Times of Israel reported that police found and defused two additional bombs on buses after three unoccupied vehicles detonated in the suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon. The prime minister’s office characterized the event as “an attempt to perpetrate a chain of mass bus bombings.”

Tel Aviv Police Chief Haim Sargarof informed reporters that the attack “appears to have originated from the West Bank.”

Last month, the IDF initiated a major “anti-terrorism operation” at the Jenin refugee camp and later extended it to include the Tulkarem refugee camp. Al Jazeera reported that this incursion is the largest IDF undertaking in these areas since 1967.

According to the UN, 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the northern regions of the West Bank due to ongoing conflicts.

The escalation occurs a month after the Hamas-Israel ceasefire, which ended combat operations in Gaza. Since then, the Palestinian militant group has freed dozens of hostages as part of an exchange for Palestinians released from Israeli prisons.