West Bank Under Targeting: Netanyahu Directs Intensification of Raids and Comprehensive Arrests

SadaNews - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he will head to Washington tomorrow, Monday, to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and discuss several files, including Iran, while hinting at expanding the escalating operations of occupation forces in the West Bank.

Netanyahu's remarks came at the beginning of the weekly session of the Israeli government, which was held today, Sunday, at a fortified, undisclosed underground site amid ongoing security tensions in the region.

Speaking about the West Bank, Netanyahu indicated that political instructions mandated the invasion of villages, searching them, confiscating weapons, and executing arrests, claiming that these actions "have been implemented and are still being carried out at this moment."

He added that occupation forces stormed a hospital in Nablus and arrested two individuals he alleged had aided the perpetrator of an "operation," referring to the events in the village of Tal southwest of Nablus, where four members of one family were martyred while defending against an attack by settlers under army protection.

He also claimed that occupation forces closed the home of the operation's perpetrator in preparation for its demolition and mapped out homes of other individuals he accused of providing assistance, aiming to take action against them.

Netanyahu threatened to expand occupation operations in the West Bank, stating: "We are also prepared to act more broadly against centers of terrorism," as he put it, noting that the Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, would present additional details regarding these measures.

Regarding the International Criminal Court, Netanyahu alleged that a decision made by a majority of nations to dismiss the court's prosecutor, Karim Khan, revealed what he described as the "real motivations" behind the issuance of arrest warrants against him and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant.

He claimed that Khan pushed for the issuance of the warrants to distract from sexual harassment allegations made against him by women who worked with him, stating that the prosecutor used this to "rally all Israel-haters around him and to provide himself with a protective cover."

Netanyahu asserted that recent developments have exposed the "deep corruption" within the prosecutor's office and the International Criminal Court as a whole, in a context following the court’s pursuit of Israeli officials on suspicion of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He mentioned that he spoke on Saturday evening with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who reaffirmed to him the United States' intention to "take firm action" against the court.

Netanyahu described the court as an entity that "threatens justice in the world," claiming it seeks to restrict the sovereignty of states and "subject their security to decisions made by corrupt officials in The Hague," considering the U.S. position a "very positive" development.