Katz orders West Bank counterterror op stepped up in response to attempted bus bombings

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Following the bus bombings in Bat Yam this evening, Defense Minister Israel Katz says he has instructed the IDF to ramp up its operations in the West Bank.

“In light of the severe terror attack attempts [in the Tel Aviv area] by Palestinian terror organizations against the civilian population in Israel, I instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of the counterterrorism activity in the Tulkarem refugee camp, and all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria,” he says in a statement, using the West Bank’s biblical name.

“We will hunt down the terrorists to the bitter end and destroy the terror infrastructure in the camps used as frontline posts of the Iranian evil axis,” Katz says.

“Residents who give shelter to terror will pay a heavy price,” he adds.

The IDF has been carrying out a major offensive in the northern West Bank, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, since January 21.

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