Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a massive escalation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after three empty buses exploded in the Israeli city of Bat Yam near Tel Aviv, The Times of Israel reported on Thursday.
“The Prime Minister has ordered the IDF to carry out an intensive operation against centers of terrorism in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
The buses that exploded were empty and in separate parking lots, and Israeli police said two additional unexploded bombs were found. No one was wounded or injured in the blasts.
Israeli police say they’re treating the incident as a “suspected terrorist attack,” and Israeli officials are claiming the blasts are tied to the West Bank, although so far, no Palestinian group has taken credit for the bombing.
On January 21, Israel launched a new operation in the West Bank dubbed “Iron Wall” that has focused on the northern cities of Tulkarm and Jenin and their refugee camps. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed, and tens of thousands have been forcibly evacuated from their homes, the most significant displacement in the territory since 1967.
The Israeli military has expanded its “open fire orders” in the West Bank, leading to a surge in the killing of Israeli civilians by IDF troops. Among those killed in the recent operations have included a pregnant woman, a two-year-old girl, and a seven-year-old boy.
Netanyahu’s order suggests the Israeli assault on the occupied West Bank will intensify even more. The bus explosions also risk the fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza as elements of the Israeli government are looking for excuses to restart the genocidal war.
