A Palestinian Authority terror squad based in Jenin planned to infiltrate Israeli communities in Samaria and carry out an Oct. 7-style massacre, according to an indictment published Wednesday by Channel 14 News.
The charges filed against Osama Bani Fadl, who stands accused of murdering Israelis Shay Silas Nigrekar and his son Aviad Nir in Huwara on Aug. 19, 2023, reveal that he fled to Jenin after the shooting, joining a terror cell there, Channel 14 News reported.
Fadl was arrested in November during an Israeli counterterrorism raid in Jenin. Israeli security forces said at the time that the armed suspect was located in a hideout used by local terrorist operatives.
The indictment accuses Fadl and other members of the terrorist squad of making preparations for a mass slaughter targeting Jewish residents of Samaria, including by infiltrating Israeli towns using vehicles.
The terror cell reportedly also planned attacks inside the town of Ma’ale Efraim in the Jordan Valley, and a drive-by shooting and car bombing at the gas station outside Eli in the Binyamin region of Samaria, a location that was targeted twice by Palestinian Authority terrorists over the past 14 months.
In response to the news, attorney Haim Blecher of the Honenu legal aid group, who represents the Nigrekar family, told Channel 14 News that his clients demand prosecutors seek the death penalty against Fadl.
The Israel Defense Forces has reportedly classified Judea and Samaria as a “combat zone” in light of the recent uptick in Palestinian Authority terror attacks.
The report came shortly after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged the government and army to order a large-scale counterterrorism campaign throughout Judea and Samaria in the wake of the murder of three police officers in a drive-by shooting near Hebron on Sunday.
“We are one step away from Oct. 7 in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich warned, speaking from the site where Chief Inspector Arik Ben Eliyahu, Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch and 1st Sgt. Roni Shakuri were killed.
Israeli security agencies on Aug. 28 launched a large-scale counterterror operation targeting the Jenin and Tulkarem areas, involving hundreds of troops and air support. So far, at least 30 terrorists have been killed in the operation, which is still ongoing, according to recent IDF figures.
“The rise of terror in Judea and Samaria is an issue that we need to be focused on at every moment. The process is an attack to prevent terror. We are mowing the lawn; the moment will also come when we will pull out the roots, that must be done,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said following a situational assessment with IDF officers on Wednesday.
“The rise [in terror] that comes in the form of car bombs and shootings everywhere, these are things that need to be put to an end,” he added.
On Tuesday night, hundreds of Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria gathered in protest at intersections throughout the territory, demanding that the military launch a broader operation against Palestinian Authority terror.
In the first six months of 2024, Judea and Samaria saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to figures published by Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria).
During that period, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges and 109 shootings.
Terrorists have killed 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in Judea and Samaria between January and July, the rescue group said.
