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 Al Jazeera 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 Al Jazeera that the Israeli assault has nothing to d

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