The recent elimination in Rafah of two senior members of Hamas' West Bank command highlights the ongoing efforts of Israeli security forces to disrupt this unit within the terrorist organization. The unit's members, who transfer funds and provide instructions to terrorists operating in Judea and Samaria, are based in various locations abroad but still pose a threat to Israel.
According to the IDF, the command is responsible for guiding, financing, and supporting the execution of attacks in the West Bank areas of Judea and Samaria, and within Israel proper.
One of the eliminated terrorists, Khaled A-Najar, had previously established a cell affiliated with Hamas that carried out 11 attacks during the Second Intifada. Members of this cell were arrested in 2003 and sentenced to life imprisonment after killing three Israeli soldiers. A-Najar was also involved in the murder of Shalom Har-Melech, the husband of MK Limor Son Har-Melech. He was released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Schalit prisoner exchange deal and deported to the Gaza Strip, where he joined the headquarters directing from Gaza attacks in the West Bank.
בעקבות 28 הרוגים לפי הדיווחים, ועדת החירום ברפיח שבשליטת חמאס, קראה לקהילה הבינלאומית לאלץ את ישראל לממש את הצו של ביה"ד הבינלאומי בהאג להפסיק את המבצע בעיר שבדרום רצועת עזה. https://t.co/kv4z0zIHk9
— Shachar Kleiman שחר קליימן (@skleiman5791) May 26, 2024
The other eliminated terrorist, Yassin Rabia, who was also released in the Schalit deal, managed all the military branches of the command, facilitated the transfer of funds for terrorist activities, and guided attacks by Hamas operatives in the West Bank. Rabia had previously carried out several deadly attacks, including those in 2001 and 2002 that resulted in the deaths of Israeli soldiers.
However, A-Najar and Rabia were not the only terrorists from the command eliminated since Oct. 7. Its most senior terrorist eliminated to date was Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed in an attack attributed to Israel in the heart of Beirut. Al-Arouri was the driving force behind the West Bank command.
In the same attack, Samir Findi and Azzam Al-Aqraa were also eliminated, with the latter being involved in the West Bank command and planning attacks in Judea and Samaria from his residences in various Arab countries over the years. The goals behind striking the command are to cut off the elements transferring funds to the arena from abroad and to disrupt their sources of income.
Since Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021 and with greater intensity in the following summer, Iranian-funded terrorist organizations such as the Jenin Battalion of Palestinian Islamic Jihad have established themselves in Jenin and other hotspots in the West Bank. Another notable group comprised of different terrorist organizations is the Lion's Den, which includes members from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
