JERUSALEM, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military said on Friday it was deploying three additional battalions to the West Bank following a series of bomb blasts targeting buses near Tel Aviv.
The move comes after three blasts ripped through empty buses late on Thursday, an incident Israeli police termed a "terrorist attack." A fourth device was found and defused.
"Following a situational assessment, it has been decided to reinforce the area of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) with three additional battalions," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had instructed the IDF to launch an intensive operation against "centers of terrorism" in the West Bank. He also directed police and the Shin Bet security agency to step up preventative measures in Israeli cities.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to intensify raids in West Bank refugee camps, describing the bus blasts as a "terror attack" and vowing to make those responsible pay a "heavy price."
"We will hunt down the terrorists relentlessly and destroy the terror infrastructure," Katz said in a statement, adding that the intensified raids would focus on the Tulkarm refugee camp and all refugee camps in the West Bank.
Since the escalation of tensions on Oct. 7, 2023, the West Bank has witnessed increasing violence, with more than 800 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The recent month has witnessed a further escalation of Israeli raids in the West Bank, which has prompted Palestinian condemnations.
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information Nabil Abu Rudeineh said earlier this week that Israeli forces were conducting a systematic campaign of destruction in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm and their surrounding camps.
Abu Rudeineh said the campaign has resulted in the deaths of dozens of citizens while the international community remains silent about Israel's plans for "racist annexation and territorial expansion." ■
