After the deadly attack last week, in which three people were murdered, the situation assessment in the West Bank has not changed but is definitely at an important milestone. The IDF Central Command is continuing the hunt for the terrorists who carried out the attack, with the understanding being that they came from the northern West Bank.
The terror attack in Al-Funduq
(Video: Shomron Coucil)
On Friday, the IDF operated with special units in the heart of the Kabatiya camp. Eight wanted individuals were arrested, and the homes of the three terrorists who carried out the attack in the Al-Funduq were mapped. The terrorists' time is limited, and the circle around them is tightening. At the same time, and despite the decrease in the number of attacks, the Central Command agrees that the scope of operations must be increased even further, with an emphasis on the northern area of the West Bank.
The Head of Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, is allowing brigades to operate relatively freely in the West Bank with offensive operations. Security sources explained that a certain change had occurred following the IDF attacks in the Jordan Valley area. The IDF has attacked the area with special forces and the Air Force in operations that lasted for days.
The security establishment notes the change that has occurred in the region, similar to the Nablus area, which also underwent a change after the counter-terrorism operation. However, at the same time, the same sources explain that the work is far from over and there are still terrorist infrastructures that are being attempted to be established in those areas.
In the days following the terror attack, questions were raised about the security coordination that the IDF maintains with the Palestinian Authority's security mechanisms. Although the PA security personnel operate in the West Bank, some voices in the government call for the dissolution of the PA.
Despite the "lone wolf" terrorism Israel experiences by Palestinian civilians who occasionally take a knife or an axe and set out to carry out a terror attack, the security establishment notes that the Palestinian people have not joined the war through an intifada similar to previous operations.
The Palestinian restraint must be taken into account despite calls to wipe out Jenin as was heard by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Despite the general decrease in numbers of cases, daily terrorism actions such as throwing Molotov cocktails still takes place in the West Bank.
And yet, the West Bank is a deceptive region. Bluth, who also visited the families of Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein, Rachel Cohen and Aliza Reiss over the weekend, who were murdered in the horrific attack, agrees that offensive activity should be increased in the coming weeks.
Security sources explain that the IDF should not act based on intelligence and in a targeted manner, but rather seize an area like the Nur a-Shams refugee camp or the Jenin camp, surround it, conduct house-to-house searches and confiscate weapons.
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Several months ago, the Central Command carried out such activities, which began with a massive counter-terrorism operation in Jenin. Although the forces relied on intelligence, the IDF raided locations without indications and found weapon caches in civilian areas.
In the coming months, the Central Command must increase its activity in the heart of the refugee camps, make use of diverse attack patterns, and increase the pressure on the terrorist battalions in the northern West Bank.