(Oct. 15, 2026 / JNS)
The Israel Defense Forces has deployed the 98th Division to Judea and Samaria to bolster security and maintain regional stability in response to a surge in intelligence alerts, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir announced on Wednesday.
Speaking during an operational briefing at Central Command alongside commanders from the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Border Police, Zamir cautioned that the potential for multi-front escalation has grown and emphasized that troops are prepared to swiftly thwart terror threats.
“The IDF is at a high level of readiness to launch extensive offensive operations against anyone who attempts to harm Israeli civilians,” Zamir said.
Zamir approved plans for continued operational activity in Judea and Samaria. He said forces had been reinforced across all areas and were preparing for attempts to catch them by surprise.
Addressing recent friction points in the area, Zamir also issued a strong condemnation of vigilante violence against civilians.
“Attacks and violence against innocent people do not reflect Israeli or Jewish values,” Zamir said, stressing that such acts must be eradicated, while pledging that IDF forces will preserve public order and ensure safety for all populations during the seasonal olive harvest.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel is prepared for any scenario, including what he called a “turning of barrels” by the Palestinian Authority. He warned enemies not to test the Jewish state.
“Our enemies are thinking of testing us these days ahead of the elections,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the seam line area of the Samaria security barrier, referring to the Oct. 27 Knesset vote.
“I do not advise our enemies to test us,” the premier said. “You will encounter a force here that you never dreamed of.”
Standing with the former Tulkarem “refugee” camp behind him, Netanyahu noted that the city had once been a terrorist stronghold before the IDF “cleared it under our direction.”
“You have to understand, we are minutes away from Netanya, minutes away from the coastline. Israel’s narrow waistline will no longer be narrow,” he continued. “We maintain security from the Jordan River to the [Mediterranean] Sea—our country, our control.
“There will be no Arab army west of the Jordan River; there will be the Israel Defense Forces,” Netanyahu vowed.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday called on Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz to instruct the IDF not to cooperate with the High Court of Justice over the possible return of displaced Palestinians to camps in northern Samaria, or allow what he called “terror camps” to be reestablished.
The court on Sunday requested timelines for measures that could allow residents to return to the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps following extensive Israeli counterterrorism operations. It gave the state until Nov. 23 to respond and did not order residents’ immediate return.
Meanwhile, police said on Tuesday that they had arrested a 32-year-old Palestinian suspected of involvement in past terror attacks after he was spotted filming inside Bnei Brak’s Aharonovich light-rail station on Monday. The man, a resident of Judea and Samaria who was in Israel illegally, falsely claimed to be an Israeli from Tayibe, police said.
Separately, the IDF said on Tuesday that troops had arrested four Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists planning an attack in northern Samaria. The arrests in Qabatiya and Arraba, near Jenin, were based on Shin Bet intelligence.