Offensive in the West Bank: Netanyahu announces “big surprise” for the autonomous authority

afp/ap | Against the backdrop of a major Israeli offensive in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a “very big surprise” for the Palestinian Authority (PA). “We have transformed the Middle East,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israeli broadcaster i24News on Friday. “There is also a very big surprise for the Palestinian Authority,” he added.

The Israeli leader dodged a direct answer when asked whether he would dismantle the Palestinian Authority. However, he said he was relying on “cunning and surprise.”

After the deaths of two soldiers in an attack by armed Palestinians on Friday morning, Netanyahu ordered a “complete lockdown” of the West Bank. He also held out the prospect of a military offensive the likes of which had not occurred since the Six-Day War in 1967.

The Israeli army then began a major offensive in the Palestinian territory. “Anti-terror operations” are underway in dozens of locations, said a joint statement from the Israeli army and the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet. Security forces searched targets and questioned suspects in the Hebron area to “locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure.” Israeli security forces also demolished “illegal structures that could pose a security threat,” according to the army and Shin Bet. The offensive is “likely to last several days.”

A new parliament will be elected in Israel on Tuesday. Netanyahu is aiming for another term in office. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War in 1967. Around three million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live there, whose settlements are illegal under international law.

Since the major Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, at least 1,113 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, most of them by Israeli soldiers, according to an AFP count based on Palestinian health data. According to the UN, 37 people were killed by settlers. According to Israeli figures, at least 49 Israelis died during the same period.

According to hospital officials, several people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. At least one person was killed in an attack on Saturday in the city of Gaza, Shifa Hospital officials said. Several other people were injured.

Two more people were killed in an attack on Friday in the largest city in the Gaza Strip, according to the clinic. Grieving relatives then gathered in the courtyard of the clinic. One person was previously killed in an attack in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said the attack was aimed at a Hamas extremist.

A ceasefire has been in effect in the Gaza Strip since October 10, 2025, which has ended the heaviest fighting. However, Israel continues to attack targets in the Palestinian territory on an almost daily basis. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its statistics. UN organizations and independent experts generally consider the numbers to be reliable.