Up to and during Ramadan, Israeli security officials and West Bank residents have been concerned over heightened tensions and possible escalation in the region amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Read more:
Last week, seven IDF soldiers were injured by a remotely activated explosive which joins the explosive Ramadan trend.
Less than a month ago, Avia Antman, a student at the Homesh Yeshiva in the West Bank, was involved in an explosion incident, which fortunately ended without casualties. "There were five of us in the car. I was driving. We left Homesh and headed downhill to Shavei Shomron. We reached one of the bends, and there were two trucks driving very slowly ahead of us. As I turn right, I hear a powerful explosion and I see a flash of light in front of my eyes," he described.
"Immediately there were screams; we tried to understand what happened to everyone. It was an incident that could have ended with funerals," he added. "On the way to the settlement, we stopped at the explosion site, which greatly resembled the aftermath of the explosion in which the late Rina Shnerb was murdered near Dolev. The explosive device was remotely activated and probably also included a spotter, just like four years ago."
This incident joins the growing trend of explosives in the northern West Bank, where terrorists lure forces to a specific point and then activate an explosive device against them, as done to soldiers last week. The terrorists fled toward a rocky terrain between the village of Silat ad-Dhahr and Homesh, firing at an IDF outpost located a few hundred yards away. The forces responded with fire and closed in on the terrorists when an explosive device was activated remotely.
In both cases, the incidents were filmed by the terrorists, and the footage went viral. "The lure attacks we experienced were very serious. It's something the entire division is dealing with," explained a senior security official.
The incidents coincide with the major changes that have been taking place in the settlement in the past year. The most prominent event was the relocation of the Homesh Yeshiva from its previous illegal location due to a Supreme Court ruling.
Even in the new location, on the mountainside, the regularization processes have not yet been completed – but the residents of Homesh are moving forward. Today, 50 students study in the yeshiva, which has become a frequented place for ministers, Knesset members, rabbis, youth movement leaders and yeshiva students.
They are now calling for increased security in the area. "We cannot ignore the fact that there is an increase in terrorism here, especially in explosive attacks. It's a miracle we have not had casualties yet. We must respond quickly," warned Homesh Yeshiva Director Shmuel Wendy.
The world of explosives is gaining momentum in the West Bank, and the greatest concern is terrorists crossing into Israel and detonating high-quality explosives in crowded places. There were dozens of attempts by Iran and its proxies to introduce such explosives, which could cause significant damage and could plunge the region into full-scale war. The fact that such explosives have not been detected so far does not mean that the attempts have ceased.
"Homesh is a very complex security challenge. There is no doubt that we have identified an increase in the use of explosives by terrorist organizations worldwide. They manufacture them quite easily and also improve their operational mechanisms. In addition, we see an increase in lure attacks," explained a senior security official.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, criticized the IDF and the government's lacking response to the phenomenon. "The Palestinian Authority and Hamas want to turn the area into southern Lebanon. The entire government and the IDF high command must change the situation again in northern Samaria. If there is no decisive action, the situation could deteriorate not only here but also spill over as has happened several times," he said.
"If the situation becomes similar to Gaza, it will lead to a wave of murderous terrorism throughout the country. It is clear to everyone that the government and IDF high command's test will be whether the lessons from October 7 have been learned, or whether we are still stuck in the reality of October 6," he added.
Meanwhile, concerns about an increase in attack attempts during Ramadan persist.
On Saturday, security forces neutralized a terrorist who opened fire on the Jewish community in Hebron. The assailant, seen wielding an AK-47 near a Palestinian cemetery in footage circulated by Palestinians, was shot and wounded. He was identified as Sheikh Mahmoud Nofal, an imam at Al-Qasim Mosque in Hebron, he was known to be a Hamas operative.