Amid the ongoing escalation in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has escalated his provocative rhetoric, calling for the destruction of the villages of Bruqin and Kafr ad-Dik, near the city of Salfit, allegedly in response to the shooting attack that killed an Israeli settler on Wednesday.

In a tweet on the X platform on Thursday, Smotrich said, "Just as we destroyed Shujaiya and Tel al-Sultan in Gaza, we must destroy the terrorist nests in the West Bank, starting with Burqin and Kafr ad-Dik," in an explicit call for collective revenge and the destruction of Palestinian housing infrastructure.

Meanwhile, since last night, Israeli occupation forces have continued to carry out extensive raids in the towns of Bruqin and Kafr ad-Dik, as well as the city of Salfit. These raids included raids on Palestinian homes, searches, and detentions, in addition to imposing a tight military cordon on the area and closing all main entrances leading to it.

In this context, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Eyal Zamir, conducted a field investigation at the site of the armed operation west of Salfit, in the presence of senior military commanders.

During his visit, Zamir ordered the continued curfew and blockade, as well as intensive military operations to pursue the perpetrators of the attack and those he described as "inciting groups."

"We are waging an open battle in Judea and Samaria, and we will continue our thwarting operations using all available tools until we find the perpetrators and hold them accountable," Zamir said, referring to the collective punishment policy pursued by the occupation army in the West Bank.

Local sources reported that Israeli occupation forces imposed strict military measures on Salfit, closing the main roads and entrances to the city, amid a heavy deployment of Israeli soldiers around villages and towns located west of the governorate.

On Wednesday evening, a female settler was killed and two others were seriously injured when the vehicle they were traveling in was directly shot at close range on Route 446 near the Bruchin settlement in the northern West Bank. The attack was carried out by a resistance fighter who then fled the scene in a vehicle.