Defense Minister: Prepare for possible October 7-style attack on West Bank communities

Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the Judea and Samaria IDF Division on Wednesday to review West Bank security, instructing commanders to “prepare to respond to a possible October 7 style attack on settlements in the West Bank and communities near the border.

The defense minister alleged that the activity in the northern West Bank, including refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams, which he referred to as “terror camps,” resulted in a decrease in “terrorist activity,” and noted that the IDF must “examine the expansion of the model to additional camps.”

As part of Operation Iron Wall in the northern West Bank, tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from refugee camps, and the IDF has continued razing residential buildings – UNRWA estimates that about 150 homes have been made uninhabitable in each of the Nur al-Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps.

However, the organization says it is difficult to make precise estimates because it does not have access to the camps.

The IDF recently announced additional plans to destroy 25 residential buildings in the Nur al-Shams camp, including some multi-story structures.

UNRWA officials have warned of the long-term consequences of the demolition policy. Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, said that about 48 percent of all homes in Nur al-Shams have been damaged or destroyed over the past year.

According to Friedrich, the pattern of the demolitions shows that they are aimed at establishing long-term control and permanently changing the nature of the camps in the northern West Bank.

The IDF said in response that “the camps serve as significant centers of terrorist activity within densely populated areas” and that the army “continues to operate to shape the area in order to prevent militants from reestablishing themselves in the camps.”