Warning about potential Oct 7-style attacks, DM Katz calls for IDF to plan large-scale operations in Judea & Samaria.

Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the IDF's Judea and Samaria Division on Wednesday, where he conducted a review and assessment of the security situation.

After meeting with senior commanders, including Central Command head Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, Katz warned, “You must prepare to respond to a possible attack on communities in Judea and Samaria and the seam line in the style of October 7 by jihadist elements.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Bluth had warned that the IDF must be prepared for “a surprise war.” 

“The baseline scenario we must prepare for is readiness for a surprise war,” Bluth said, in a statement released by the IDF. “We are required to maintain a high level of preparedness and alertness, while using the time to strengthen our professional foundations.” 

The warnings from Katz and Bluth come amid heightened tensions in Judea and Samaria following recent terror attacks and several dramatic incidents of violence by settler youth associated with the Hilltop Youth movement. 

Such attacks have happened with a higher degree of frequency in the last two months of 2025, compared to earlier years. 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the incidents of violence, referring to the perpetrators as “a handful of kids” during an interview with Fox News. 

Defense Minister Katz praised the commanders and soldiers of the IDF, Border Police, and other security forces for their determined activity, which he said led to a dramatic decrease in terror incidents and a significant improvement in the security situation on the ground, compared to 2024. 

Minister Katz said that the IDF activity in the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur a-Shams refugee camps occurring over the past year has been effective, leading to a dramatic decrease of over 80% in terror activity in Judea and Samaria. Minister Katz also pressed for expanding the operations to additional camps, to prevent a large-scale security threat. 

During the operations, the military changed tactics from previous anti-terror raids, evacuating the residents of the refugee camps and demolishing certain structures in order to broaden roads through the camps to enable ease of access for the military in future incursions, while having the IDF remain in the camps throughout the entire operation.

These changes allowed the IDF to more easily find and destroy terror infrastructure in the camps, but led to complaints by the residents, who were evacuated with little notice. Some residents have still not been able to return to their homes. 

Katz emphasized that just as the IDF has been operating in Lebanon, Syria, and in Gaza, so too in Judea and Samaria, the IDF will remain in the area, forming a barrier between the Jewish population and terror elements. 

As part of this strategy, Katz instructed the military to advance a plan to return IDF bases to northern Samaria, thus bringing soldiers back to areas from which the IDF withdrew during the disengagement. Katz stated that "this is a historic amendment of both security and settlement importance, and that the return to northern Samaria strengthens the security grip and stability in the region.” 

Minister Katz’s instruction to the commanders to prepare for a possible Oct. 7-style attack on settlements in Judea and Samaria and the Seam Line came at the conclusion of his visit. 

Notably, Katz’s instruction comes just after U.S. President Donald Trump was reported to have asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to change his strategy in Judea and Samaria, asking him to “calm things down,” apparently pushing for fewer IDF operations in Palestinian cities, a freeze to settlement expansion, and a more aggressive approach to handling settler violence.