Defense Minister Israel Katz told Tuesday's cabinet meeting that the IDF is preparing for a scenario in which the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus and the Tanzim groups affiliated with it turn their guns on Israeli residents and IDF troops in Judea and Samaria and in communities along the seam line. In that case, he said, Israel will declare war on the Palestinian Authority and the IDF will launch a comprehensive offensive under an orderly plan that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have formulated and approved, in line with the principles set out for the military.
Katz described the planned campaign as "short and intense." It would bring in ground and air forces, as well as what he called "special means."
He outlined the main elements of the plan:
- Targeted killings and expulsion of senior officials;
- Destruction of weapons and military equipment;
- Large-scale evacuation of residents;
- Destruction of terrorist infrastructure inside the cities and in all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria.
Katz said the operation would follow the model Israel has used in Gaza and Lebanon, and would be accompanied by a reinforcement of forces and the protection of Israeli communities.
He ruled out a prolonged conflict. "There will not be an intifada that lasts for years, as there was in the past," Katz said, "but a short and intense war with a clear, decisive outcome and a change in reality."
The warning was Katz's second of the day. Earlier on Tuesday, he placed the IDF on heightened alert in the Gaza Strip ahead of the October 7 anniversary, citing intelligence that Hamas planned attacks on Israeli forces there. A closure was imposed on Judea and Samaria in parallel. Katz warned that if Israeli forces were harmed, Hamas and Gaza's population would pay a price "beyond all proportion."
