Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that the Israeli military was “mowing the lawn” in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but will eventually need to “pull out the roots.”
“Mowing the lawn” is a term the Israeli military used for its bombing campaigns in Gaza pre-October 7. The idea is that the raids would reduce Hamas’s military capability but not eliminate it, and it would eventually grow back, requiring another bombing campaign.
“The process is an attack to prevent terror. We are mowing the lawn, [but] the moment will also come when we will pull out the roots, that must be done,” Gallant said.
Israeli settler and military violence surged in the West Bank amid Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. The Israeli government has also approved new major land grabs in the occupied territory, and settlers have been taking over Palestinian homes. The Israeli actions have naturally led to an increase in armed Palestinian resistance.
“These terror organizations that call themselves by all kinds of names, in Nur Shams, or Tulkarm, or Far’a, or Jenin — they should be wiped out. Every such terrorist should be eliminated, [or] if they surrender, arrest them. There is no other option, use all the forces, everyone who is needed, with full strength,” Gallant said.
Last week, Israel launched its largest assault on the West Bank since 2002, which is still underway in the northern areas of Jenin and Tulkarm. Israel Hayom reported that Israel is planning more escalations in the West Bank and now considers the territory the second most critical front, immediately after Gaza.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 33 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s operation in the West Bank since it was launched last Tuesday. A total of 685 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since October 7.
