Israel has sealed off large parts of the Tubas governorate after sending heavy reinforcements into the northern Jordan Valley, shutting the region off from the rest of the occupied West Bank and imposing a sweeping siege.
Residents told media on Wednesday that military bulldozers piled earth across every approach road before dawn, while Israeli Apache helicopters fired rounds over empty fields around Tubas in a bid to threaten Palestinian residents.
Troops then began house-to-house searches in the city of Tubas as well as the four nearby towns, including Tammun and Aqqaba, as the army announced a new military operation it claimed was targeting resistance fighters.
Tubas Governor Ahmed Asaad dismissed that justification, telling media that the Israeli assault has nothing to do with security and everything to do with geography.
“The assault is targeting Tubas for its location near the Jordan Valley, in a new effort to impose new realities,” he said.
Asaad said about 30 families had been forced from their homes, and troops had seized several buildings on high ground overlooking the governorate.
More than 50,000 Palestinians live across the five towns now encircled by the army.
Asaad condemned what he described as a new round of collective punishment on a community already facing daily incursions and constant harassment at surrounding checkpoints.
With the military curfew in place, he said local authorities had suspended schools and public institutions and activated emergency committees across the governorate.
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