Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran is directly responsible for the surging terrorist wave. The Jewish State was “in the midst of a terrorist onslaught that is being encouraged, directed, and financed by Iran and its proxies,” the Israeli leader said on Monday as Iran-sponsored terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad step up terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.
The Israeli prime minister made those remarks amid a series of deadly terrorist attacks across Israel. On Saturday, Palestinian terrorists gunned down a father and son in Israel’s Judea and Samaria region. “Aviad Nir, 28, and his father Shai Silas Nigreker, 60, from Ashdod, were the victims of the terror shooting attack that took place in the Palestinian town of Huwara on Saturday,” the Israel news website Ynet reported. “The two arrived at the town to fix their car’s air conditioning, then headed to a nearby car wash, where a terrorist opened fire at them.”
On Monday, Hamas-linked gunmen murdered an Israeli school teacher and injured another man in an ambush near Hebron. “Batsheva Nigri, 42, a kindergarten teacher from Beit Hagai, was killed when terrorists opened fire on her vehicle on Route 60, close to the Beit Hagai Junction. Another individual, identified as Aryeh Gottlieb, was seriously wounded in the attack,” the Jewish News Syndicate news agency reported.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government responded to these and other recent attacks with new counter-terrorism measures aimed at targeting the terrorist leadership and infrastructure.
“In light of the recent attacks against Israelis, mainly in the West Bank, the Ministerial Committee for National Security Issues met on Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported. “The political and security cabinet took a series of decisions aimed at targeting terrorists and their messengers, and authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to act in this regard.”
The Times of Israel reported Prime Minister Netanyahu’s warning:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant blame Iran for the surge in terror attacks.Giving a live statement from the scene of an attack earlier in the day in which a woman was shot dead and a man seriously wounded, Netanyahu says, “We are in the midst of a terrorist onslaught that is being encouraged, directed, and financed by Iran and its proxies.”“We are working around the clock to catch the murderers,” Netanyahu says.“The most significant change on the ground is related to Iranian financing and intent,” Gallant adds.“Iran is looking for any way to harm the citizens of Israel. We will take several actions that will restore security to the citizens of Israel,” Gallant says, adding that “all options are on the table.”
The terrorist attacks in the West Bank were accompanied by renewed attempts by Hamas fighters to breach the security fence on Israel’s southern border and target IDF troops, video clips on Twitter show:
The remarks by Prime Minister Netanyahu were made just days after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime’s international terrorist arm, boasted of its growing ties with Palestinian terrorist and jihadist organizations.
Top Iranian officials believe that the U.S. under President Joe Biden’s leadership is in retreat, and their Shia-Islamic regime is filling the power vacuum by strengthening its proxy terrorist groups. “Two senior officials in the IRGC boasted that the US is declining while Iran-supported Palestinian and Hezbollah attacks against Israel are succeeding,” the Israeli newspaper noted.
The Jerusalem Post reported Saturday:
Iranian IRGC leaders bragged over the weekend about the increased strength of their proxies and the successes they believe they are having against the US and Israel.Hossein Salami, the commander of the IRGC, and Ismail Qaani, the IRGC’s Quds Force commander, both made comments on Saturday that were reported in Iranian pro-regime media. The comments illustrate how Iran is positioning itself today in the region by seeking to support Palestinian attacks on Israel and also strengthening Hezbollah.Qaani said that Iran is witnessing to a “decline of the Zionist regime in the region” and that the Iranian-backed proxies’ “axis of resistance has the upper hand over the Zionist regime.”
The Gaza-based Islamic terrorist group Hamas is setting up rocket production infrastructure in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank town of Jenin, a report published by the Israeli think tank Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs (JCPA) says.
Hamas’s efforts are aimed at improving the existing rocket manufacturing capabilities of its fighters in the West Bank town, the report noted. Hamas is capable of firing thousands of rockets with ever-increasing range and precision from its base in Gaza. Israel’s Iran Dome missile defense system has largely been able to neutralize the rocket barrages coming from Gaza. The terror group wants open a second front in Jenin in a bid to overwhelm Israel’s missile defense systems.
With Hamas building up terrorist infrastructure in Jenin and other West Bank towns, the Israeli military will be forced to carry out more counter-terrorism raids to neutralize the threat, the Israeli think tank believes.
The JCPA reported Monday:
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) are preparing a series of operations in the Jenin area to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure known as the “Al-Ayash Battalion.” This group is responsible for manufacturing and launching rockets aimed at Israel.Security officials in Israel emphasize that no terrorist enjoys immunity and no location in Judea and Samaria is off-limits. Soon, the IDF will take action within the Jenin refugee camp, where members of this infrastructure are believed to be hiding.Saleh al-Arouri, the leader of Hamas’ military wing in Judea and Samaria, has been working to realize his vision of setting up a terrorist network in northern Samaria dedicated to producing and launching rockets toward Israel.Established in May 2023, the Hamas-funded “Al-Ayash Battalion” is named in honor of Yahya Ayash, also known as “The Engineer.” Ayash was an infamous bomb-maker and terrorist leader killed by Israel in 1996.While the Israel Security Agency has managed to apprehend some members of this terrorist network in recent months, most remain concealed within the Jenin refugee camp. Despite those arrests, the group continues manufacturing and launching rockets at Israel.Seven of these primitive, locally-produced “Qassam” rockets have been launched recently. Although these rockets are rudimentary in nature, they symbolize Hamas’ intent. The group seeks to transfer advanced technological knowledge for rocket production from Gaza to Judea and Samaria.The Israel Security Agency predicts that it is only a matter of time before this expertise reaches Jenin, enabling the terrorist groups to produce more sophisticated rockets with larger warheads, longer ranges, and better accuracy.To combat this threat, the IDF and ISA heavily invest in intelligence efforts to neutralize the “Al-Ayash Battalion.”Both Hamas’ military wing and Islamic Jihad strive to disrupt Israel’s military control in the region. They aim to open a new front against Israel from Judea and Samaria, in line with the vision of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.In June 2023, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who encouraged them to escalate attacks against Israel in the West Bank.
In recent years, Iran-backed terrorist groups Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have made inroads into PLO-Fatah-controlled West Bank towns such as Jenin and Nablus. Israeli security forces have carried out multiple raids to hunt for wanted terrorists and destroy weapons caches.
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