Foreign minister calls for Gaza-esque war in West Bank, including ordering civilians to flee

Foreign Minister Israel Katz says Israel should consider ordering West Bank Palestinians to move temporarily as it embarks on a major anti-terror raid in the northern West Bank.

“We need to deal with the [terror] threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians and any other step needed,” he says in a tweet. “This is a war in every sense.”

Katz says Israeli forces operating in Jenin, Tulkarem and other areas are working to dismantle an Iranian-backed terror network being built up in the West Bank.

“Iran is working to establish a terror front against Israel in [the West Bank], according to the model it used in Lebanon and Gaza, by funding and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan,” he says in the tweet.

Palestinians in Gaza ordered to flee Israeli military action have expressed worries that their forcible removal will become permanent as part of an plot to grab more territory. Israel says the moves are necessary to protect civilians who could be caught in the crossfire as it battles Hamas-led fighters in the Strip.