Israel on Saturday stepped up its military operation in the West Bank after a series of car bombing in the area. Hamas-linked terrorists on late Friday detonated two car bombs in a coordinated attack, while a third vehicle failed to explode.
“Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday ramped up its counterterrorism operation in the West Bank following the terror attack in the territory the previous night, when two car bombs exploded in a failed attempt to carry out a mass casualty attack,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Saturday. “There was heavy fighting reported in Jenin and the city of Hebron was placed under closure,” the broadcaster added.
The car bombings come after Hamas oversea leader Khaled Mashaal on Wednesday called on Palestinians to renew suicide attacks against Israel. “We want to return to martyrdom operations,” the Qatar-based terrorist leader said.
The so-called ‘martyrdom,’ under the rules of Islamic jihad warfare, is associated with ‘heavenly virgins’ in the afterlife. The Families of suicide attackers are financially rewarded by the West-Bank’s ruling Palestinian Authority (PA) though its despicable ‘Pay-to-Slay’ scheme.
The manhunt was underway in the city of Hebron to nab the terrorists responsible for the bombings. “Troops conduct searches in Hebron where the two terrorists driving car bombs came from,” the Israel news website YNET reported Saturday.
The unfolding West Bank operation is reportedly the biggest Israeli military intervention in PA-ruled area since the October 7 attack. “Large IDF, Israeli Police, and ISA [the Shin Bet security agency] forces who were dispatched to the area, are conducting wide-range scans and blocking routes in the area,” the Israeli military said in press statement Saturday morning.
The Times of Israel on Saturday reported the details of the West Bank terrorist attacks:
Two car bombs exploded in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank late Friday night, in what security officials believed was a coordinated attack. Two Palestinian terrorists involved in the attacks were killed by troops at the scene.In the first incident, a car exploded at a gas station near the Gush Etzion junction. Troops dispatched to the scene shot dead a terrorist who had arrived in the vehicle and who attempted to attack them, the military said.In the second incident, which occurred about 20 minutes later, a terrorist breached into the nearby Karmei Tzur settlement, before being shot dead. The terrorist’s car exploded inside the community.At the gas station, a soldier was moderately wounded and a reservist officer who is the head of a local security team was lightly hurt, likely as a result of friendly fire while forces shot the alleged terrorist dead, the military and medics said. The two were taken to a hospital.The commander of the IDF’s Etzion Regional Brigade, Col. Gal Rich, was also lightly hurt, but did not require hospitalization, the military said. Rich was hit in the arm but continued to operate at the scene to investigate the attack.
The Israeli military on Saturday took out another commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization. The slain jihad operative was behind several rocket attacks on Israel from central Gaza.
“The IDF eliminated the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Central Camps Brigade commander, Muhammad Katrouy, on Saturday in a targeted strike in central Gaza, the military announced,” the Jerusalem Post reports.” Katrouy was responsible for some of PIJ’s rocket attacks against Israel and operated from the central Gaza Strip, the IDF said.”
The Israeli military were pressing ahead with the operation in Rafah, with reports of heavy losses among Hamas’ terrorist fighting force after close to four months of ground offensive.
Israeli “troops eliminated terrorist cells and dismantled terror infrastructure and military structures that posed a threat to the troops,” the IDF said in a press statement Saturday. “Over the past day, IDF troops continued to operate in the area of Tal al-Sultan [located in the outskirts of Rafah terror stronghold[. During the operation, the troops located a large amount of weaponry. Additionally, the troops eliminated terrorists who posed a threat to the troops over the past day.”
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