Israel threatens PA war if Oct 7-style attack planned

Israel threatened a "full-scale war" against the Palestinian Authority on Monday if it determined that PA security forces or related bodies were preparing an October 7-style attack against Israeli forces or settlements.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he had instructed the Israeli military to prepare for such a campaign if PA bodies initiated such an attack, or if Israel knew with certainty that they were about to do so.

Katz said the campaign would target the Palestinian Authority's senior leadership and mechanisms, as well as what he called terror infrastructure in the West Bank. He said it would include targeted killings of senior figures, evacuations from cities and villages from which terror activity is carried out, and a permanent Israeli military presence in those areas.

Katz said the operation would emulate the Israeli military's so-called security zones in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Rawhi Fattouh, president of the Palestinian National Council, denounced Katz's comments, saying they showed the "aggressive and racist nature of the Israeli government", according to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa. He said the remarks showed Israel was seeking "permanent fuel for conflict" rather than a peace partner.

The warning came after a stabbing attack wounded an Israeli settler in the northern occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said it shot and killed the Palestinian assailant after a manhunt. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said the wounded Israeli was taken to hospital in a moderate to serious condition.

The Palestinian civil affairs authority identified the assailant as 34-year-old Mahmoud Mohammed Arabi Mohsen. His uncle, Nizar Arabi Mohsen, said he had been suffering from mental illness for about four years.

The Palestinian Authority does not officially take part in militant activity, and its security forces have worked to crack down on local militancy in the West Bank. There was no indication that Monday's stabbing was carried out with the consent or knowledge of the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas called for an escalation of resistance against Israeli soldiers and settlers.

In a separate incident earlier Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said a man was killed during a settler attack in Hajja, in the northern West Bank. The Israeli military said troops were sent to the area after a report of friction between Palestinians and settlers, and said Palestinians threw stones at soldiers. It said troops fired warning shots and then fired toward what it called key instigators, adding that the incident was under review.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has surged since Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza.

An AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data says Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,106 Palestinians in the West Bank, including militants and civilians, since the start of the Gaza war. Israeli figures say at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory over the same period.