Israel carries out deadly West Bank raids; US sanctions Israeli group for Palestinian expulsions

The State Department imposed sanctions on an Israeli group that supports farmers on occupied land in the West Bank, as the Biden administration ramps up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his government’s backing of settlers.

Israel’s central bank left interest rates unchanged, seeking to balance the impact of rising inflation against weak growth as uncertainty surrounded fiscal policy.

Israel carries out deadly West Bank raids as regional tension rises

Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the West Bank to combat what the army said was terrorist activity, the latest surge in hostilities in the Palestinian area since the start of the war in Gaza.

Ten Palestinians were killed and 11 injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which said Israeli soldiers blocked access to hospitals and destroyed infrastructure in towns of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the raids, which began early on Wednesday, were aimed at targeting militants. It said it killed five of them, including one released from prison as part of an exchange for Hamas-held hostages in Gaza in November.

Israeli forces have stepped up operations in the West Bank since Hamas’ 7 October incursion into southern Israel from Gaza, a separate Palestinian territory.

An Israeli military spokesperson, Nadav Shoshani, said Iran had been smuggling weapons into the West Bank as part of its effort to undermine the Jewish state, and this week’s operation was a pre-emptive strike.

His comments on Iran — and similar ones by Foreign Minister Israel Katz on X — could not be corroborated. He added that the blockade of hospitals was to prevent terrorists hiding in them.

Read more: Israel’s ban on Palestinian workers is hurting both economies

Iran sponsors Hamas and other regional militant groups fighting Israel, including Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are considered terrorist organisations by the US. Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF said it killed a member of the Islamic Jihad group — also linked to Tehran — in the Syria-Lebanon border area.

The IDF’s move in the West Bank “will not bring security and stability to anyone, and everyone will pay the price”, said Nabil Abu Rudineh, a spokesperson for the West Bank-based Palestinian presidency.

Hamas said in a statement that “resistance operations in the West Bank are escalating. “This situation can only be addressed by open conflict,” the group said. It called for mass protests in the area and elsewhere in the Arab world in support of Hamas.

The West Bank has seen a significant rise in violence since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, with more IDF operations happening alongside clashes between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government has approved the expansion of settlements in recent months, worsening tensions.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said more than 650 West Bank Palestinians had been killed since October and 5,400 injured before this week’s operation. Movement restrictions have further exacerbated problems in the territory, limiting access to essential health services.

Shoshani, the IDF spokesperson, said there has been a spike in anti-Israel violence in the northern part of the West Bank with scores of shootings and attacks originating there in the past year. He said the groups involved included Hamas and others funded by Iran.

The economic situation in the West Bank has deteriorated dramatically since October. More than 178,000 Palestinian workers have lost their jobs after being banned from entering Israel for security reasons. Many of them worked on Israeli construction sites.

Hamas fighters killed 1,200 and took around 250 hostage with their 7 October attack. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

US sanctions West Bank settlers for Palestinian expulsions

The State Department imposed sanctions on an Israeli group that supports farmers on occupied land in the West Bank, as the Biden administration ramps up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his government’s backing of settlers.

Volunteers with the sanctioned nongovernmental organisation, Hashomer Yosh, fenced off a village in the West Bank after its 250 Palestinian residents were forced to leave and prevented them from coming back, the State Department said.

“The volunteers also provided support by grazing the herds and purporting to ‘guard’ the outposts” of Israelis who had already been sanctioned, said the State Department.

Wednesday’s announcement described the latest round of sanctions as being part of efforts to address “extreme levels of instability and violence” against civilians in the West Bank.

Netanyahu, whose government depends on support from conservative hardliners who champion the Israeli settlers, said in a statement that “Israel views with utmost severity the imposition of sanctions on citizens of Israel.” He said a “pointed discussion with the US” was under way.

In February, President Joe Biden signed an executive order empowering the State Department to impose sanctions in such cases, and it has since punished both Palestinian and Israeli groups. The move highlighted the balancing act Biden has tried to maintain in backing Israel in its campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip while trying to stop a rising tide of settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

Also sanctioned on Wednesday was Yitzhak Levi Filant, who was described as the civilian security coordinator for a settlement in the West Bank.

“In February 2024, he led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands,” said the department.

Bank of Israel holds rate as uncertainty shrouds fiscal policy

Israel’s central bank left interest rates unchanged, seeking to balance the impact of rising inflation against weak growth as uncertainty surrounded fiscal policy.

The monetary committee kept its benchmark rate at 4.5% on Wednesday for a fifth straight meeting, in line with the forecasts of all economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

In a statement accompanying the decision, policymakers largely repeated previous guidance, saying the focus should be on stabilising markets, controlling price rises and supporting economic activity. Inflation has been on the rise, mostly linked to the war against Hamas.

“Since the outbreak of the war, and in recent months in particular, geopolitical uncertainty and its economic ramifications have increased,” said the committee. “These, alongside fiscal uncertainty, are also reflected in the high yield spreads between Israeli government bonds and US bonds.”

Israeli Central Bank Governor Amir Yaron has been particularly concerned about fiscal policy in recent weeks, calling for budgetary cuts totalling some 30 billion shekels ($8-billion) to balance increased defence expenditure related to the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Yet Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have delayed discussions on the 2025 budget, set to be the most challenging in decades, despite the process usually being well under way by this time of year.

Israel’s 12 month trailing deficit had risen to 8.1% as of July, with the central bank anticipating a year-end figure of 6.6% — if there are no unexpected additions to the defense budget.

“The uncertainty surrounding the state budget for 2025, and the implementation of adjustments required to reduce the deficit on an ongoing basis, contributes to an increase in the risk premium and is liable to weigh on the return of inflation to its target,” the policymakers said. DM

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