An operation early Sunday morning in which two armed Palestinians were killed and nine wounded was part of the IDF's intensive ongoing actions in Judea and Samaria. Nevertheless, this was a particularly violent event, during which part of the home where the terrorists were hiding was destroyed and a considerable number of weapons were confiscated, some of which had been used to carry out terrorist attacks in Samaria.
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The operation, which took place in the Nablus Kasbah (old citadel), was one of the most complicated launched in the area in recent years. The house where the terrorists were hiding was located in an area of narrow, crowded alleys that made it hard for Israeli forces to reach the target. According to the preliminary information released by the Shin Bet security agency, it was clear that there were many weapons in the house, so the operation was put in the hands of the Israel Police special counter-terror unit, which specializes in operations of this kind. The counter-terror personnel worked in conjunction with Givati reconnaissance soldiers, who closed off the area to prevent fugitives form fleeing or other terrorists from arriving.
After the house was surrounded, the forces called on the fugitives to come out. The terrorists began shooting, and in response the Israeli forces launched the "pressure cooker" protocol, firing a few rockets at the house and later proceeding to demolish part of it with a bulldozer. The battle lasted for more than three hours, and expanded to shootings in other parts of the Kasbah. Palestinian reports claimed two of the terrorists had been killed, but Israel thinks the number is higher. When the operation was over, all the weapons in the house were confiscated, including the ones fired during the raid itself. The operation caused heavy damage.
The operation was targeting Palestinian terrorists, mostly members of the Tanzim, the armed wing of Fatah. Some have been involved in recent shooting attacks. Since the beginning of 2022, there has been a sharp rise in violence and terrorist activity in northern Samaria, and over 75% of attacks are being carried out by terrorists from that area.
If in the past, most terrorists were affiliated with terror organizations, mainly Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the past few months have seen a spike in terrorist attacks in which Tanzim members were involved.
Israel thinks that this activity is not being directed from the top, and that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian security services even oppose it, fearing that sooner or later, it could turn against them. But they have little will to take action to stop it, and local terrorist operatives exploit that to increase their grip on the area and sometimes other elements, like criminals, also become involved.
Ever since the wave of terrorist attacks this past March and April, the IDF and the Shin Bet have increased arrests in Judea and Samaria. Every night, a few arrest raids are carried out there as part of Operation Breakwater, but the Nablus operation was unusual in the level of violence it entailed. Security officials said that the relatively early arrival in the Kasbah, combined with the comparatively harsh response to the shots fired at Israeli forces, were intended to make it clear to the Palestinians that the IDF is not deterred from acting in any place in Judea and Samaria, at any time.
"The idea is to get them on the run. To take their safe place, home, and make it unsafe for them and for the people hiding them," a military official explained.
On Sunday, rumors were circulating in the PA that the target of the Nablus operation was Ibrahim al-Nablusi, a member of a terror cell that the police counter-terror forces busted last February in a daytime operation that was also unusually violent. Three terrorists involved in a number of shooting attacks against IDF forces in Samaria were fatally shot. Since then, Al-Nablusi has been hiding out in the Kasbah, and become a local hero among the Tanzim youth. Both the IDF and the Shin Bet denied that he was the target.
Meanwhile, Israel's security apparatus attributes the recent relative quiet to the intensive nightly activity in Judea and Samaria. Another reason for it is the increased deployment of forces along the seam line border area, which makes it difficult for undocumented Palestinians to enter Israel. Officials said that given that there is no drop in the number of alerts and terrorist plots, the high level of arrest activity can be expected to continue. In effect, the activity only paused briefly ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit, and started again after Biden left the Middle East.
The heavy terrorist activity that has been ongoing since the start of the year is a source of concern for Israel, especially in light of the PA's struggle to govern. All this could intensify after Abbas dies. Abbas has picked Hussein al-Sheikh to succeed him, and this year appointed him chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, but it's unlikely he'll be able to take charge of all the Palestinian factions easily.
That scenario is a troubling one for Israel, and recently Israel has begun making preparations in case it comes to pass. Most of the attention is on Hamas, which is always trying to set terrorist attacks in motion from Judea and Samaria, so far without success, thanks to the Shin Bet's work in thwarting them. These failures are part of the reason why Hamas has been stepping up its efforts to establish military units in refugee camps in Lebanon, efforts that are being overseen by Hamas abroad, under Salah al-Arouri, who is also responsible for many of the attempts to recruit cells in the West Bank to perpetrate attacks.
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