Israeli Premier Netanyahu orders escalation in West Bank amid rising tensions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an intensified military crackdown on the occupied West Bank, his office announced Friday.

The move comes after explosions tore through three empty buses in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon on Thursday evening, several Israeli media outlets reported.

No one was injured, according to police reports cited by the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

In a statement, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said: "Following the attempt to perpetrate a chain of mass bus bombings, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just completed a security assessment with the Defense Minister, the IDF (Israeli army) Chief-of-Staff, the ISA (Israeli Security Agency) Director and the Israel Police Inspector General."

The office added that Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli army "to carry out an intensive operation against centers of terrorism" in the West Bank.

This latest escalation follows a pattern of collective punishment that has seen Israel expand its military offensives across the Palestinian territories.

Israeli army continued its deadly raids in the northern West Bank, where at least 60 people were killed and thousands displaced since last month.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 920 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Health Ministry.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.