The Israel Defense Forces are conducting a large-scale counterterrorism operation in the West Bank town of Jenin as the Jewish State faces a renewed wave of terrorist attacks.
More than a hundred terror suspects were taken into custody while Israeli soldiers combed the streets and alleys of Jenin, facing sniper fire and pitched gun battles. “The IDF said that since the early hours of Monday, troops had questioned over 120 Palestinian suspects. Several of them were released, while others were taken in for additional questioning,” The Times of Israel reported Tuesday.
In recent years, Jenin has emerged as a major terrorist stronghold, harboring Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and other terrorist groups. The city has been used as a base of operation for carrying out deadly attacks inside Israel and hiding wanted terrorist and terror masterminds.
According to an IDF spokesman, on the eve of the operation, “there were some 300 Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp. He said the military had intelligence on the identities of at least 160 armed Palestinians,” The Times of Israel reported.
This is one of the biggest IDF counterterrorism operations of its kind in recent years. The operation involving more than 1,000 IDF troops “appeared to be the largest in the West Bank in some 20 years,” the Israeli outlet confirmed.
The Israeli military uncovered several weapons factories hidden in residential areas of the town, the IDF confirmed in a statement obtained by the Legal Insurrection:
IDF soldiers located an explosives manufacturing facility in the Jenin Camp. The facility contained hundreds of explosive devices ready to be used, along with a pit used for concealing weapons.In addition, IDF soldiers located an explosives manufacturing facility that contained dozens of improvised explosive devices and a guidebook on how to make additional explosive devices.Another explosives manufacturing facility was also located and means used for the manufacturing of explosive devices were found there. The soldiers confiscated all of the weapons.
As IDF raids the Islamist stronghold, Israel is yet again hit by a terrorist attack. On Tuesday morning, a Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into a group of commuters waiting at a bus stop on a busy Tel Aviv street. The assailant then emerged out of the vehicle and began stabbing passersby, injuring at least eight people in total.
The attack ended when an armed civilian shot down the terrorist at the scene.
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported:
A reported car-ramming and stabbing attack on Tuesday left eight people wounded in northern Tel Aviv, Israel. According to preliminary reports, one victim is in critical condition.Police spokesperson said that police received a report about a “vehicle that hit several citizens on Pinchas Rosen Street in Tel Aviv.” (…)The attack was reportedly carried out by a 23-year-old Hasin Halilah, a resident of the town of As Samu in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank. (…)”Further to the report of a vehicle that hit Pinchas Rosen Street, it appears that according to the suspicion, a suspect driving a vehicle traveling from south to north hit pedestrians standing in the commercial center on Pinchas Rosen Street, got out of the vehicle and stabbed others with a sharp object,” the spokesperson says, adding that the terrorist was neutralized.
On Monday, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy from Jenin stabbed a man in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak. The attacker was nabbed by a police officer as he tried to flee.
Israel’s police minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, praised the armed civilian for taking out the terrorist in Tel Aviv and stressed the need for citizens to bare arms in the face of Palestinian terror.
The Times of Israel reported:
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says the armed man who shot dead the terrorist in Tel Aviv is further proof of the importance of arms-bearing civilians.“I call on those who meet the requirements — carry firearms with you.”
Besides capturing wanted terrorists, the IDF uncovered a weapons cache hidden under a Jenin mosque.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
The IDF provided extensive details on Tuesday about its operation uncovering a wide variety of terror infrastructure in the Islamic Jihad-associated Al-Ansar Mosque in Jenin.Already on Monday, there was fighting between IDF forces and Palestinians around and within parts of the mosque.The IDF found hidden subterranean areas where explosives and weapons were located.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY