Israeli military forces launched an extensive operation in the Tubas governorate of the occupied West Bank, sealing off the region and displacing approximately 30 Palestinian families, according to local officials.
The siege, which began overnight and continued into Wednesday, involved house raids, road blockades, and helicopter overflights. Troops carried out searches in Tubas city and surrounding towns including Tammun and Aqqaba, claiming to target armed resistance fighters.
Tubas Governor Ahmed Asaad rejected that justification. He told Al Jazeera that the operation was motivated by territorial strategy rather than security. “The assault is targeting Tubas for its location near the Jordan Valley, in a new effort to impose new realities,” Asaad said. He also reported that Israeli forces seized buildings on high ground and disrupted access to healthcare services.
Military bulldozers created barriers by piling dirt across access roads, severing Tubas from the rest of the West Bank. Apache helicopters reportedly fired warning shots over adjacent fields. Local authorities responded by closing schools and public institutions, and forming emergency committees.
According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, two Palestinians were hospitalized after alleged beatings by Israeli forces during the raids in Tubas and Tammun. Asaad further claimed that civilians in need of urgent medical care were blocked from receiving treatment.
Resident accounts published by the Palestinian news agency Wafa likened the scale of the operation to previous Israeli raids that intensified after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023. The ongoing conflict has included widespread arrests and infrastructure destruction across the West Bank.
Armed groups including Hamas and the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement condemned the operation. In public statements, both factions alleged the siege is part of a broader strategy to annex the West Bank and displace Palestinians.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli forces have conducted nearly 7,500 raids across the West Bank in 2024. In a recent statement, OCHA warned, “The occupied West Bank is experiencing its worst displacement crisis in decades.”
Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that mass displacement from three Palestinian refugee camps may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) estimates that roughly 32,000 Palestinian refugees have been forced to flee those camps and nearby areas.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces in the past two years, according to OCHA.
Source: Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/26/israels-siege-on-west-bank-city-raises-alarms-over-ethnic-cleansing
