by Sveta Listratov
Israeli residents of the northern Gilboa region marched on Wednesday to draw attention to the increasing number of terror attacks on their communities by Palestinian Authority terror groups in the Jenin area.
“I see the shooters from my house, literally every evening because of my proximity to the fence. They get out of the car, shoot, and run away,” Hagai Ziv, a resident of Kibbutz Meirav told the Tazpit Press Service.
“Personally my house has been shot through the windows. I never thought I would see my daughter touching the bullet holes in the plaster of our house, it’s a terrible feeling.”
Kibbutz Meirav, located on the slopes of Mount Gilboa, has experienced gunfire on two separate occasions in the past two weeks. No casualties from either shooting were reported.
The kibbutz is also in range of Palestinian Authority rockets launched from northern Samaria.
“No one should experience this,” kibbutz resident Rinat Dror said. “We are building a house now in the new neighborhood, the future house is right on the borderline – every time I hear a bunch of shots coming from there, I get scared.”
She was referring to the ceasefire line established in 1949 after Israel’s War of Independence, commonly referred to as the Green Line.
Some 3,000 Gilboa residents participated in the march.
Palestinian Authority terror in the area escalated this summer with rocket launches. Most have landed in the vicinity of Moshav Ram On, an agricultural community of 900 that is the closest Israeli community to the Palestinian Authority.
Oved Nur, head of the Gilboa Regional Council has called on the security establishment to allow the Israel Defense Forces to take stronger protective measures, including deploying an Iron Dome defense system.
Ziv warned against allowing the Palestinian Authority to gradually escalate the terror.
“There are quite a few areas in Israel that started with shooting like here and today it’s the rockets, we don’t want to become that,” Ziv said. “We are at a point in time before it gets out of control and the terrorists become stronger, the IDF has the option of stopping the whole incident before it escalates. That is what we demand.”
Iran has been helping terror groups in northern Samaria develop infrastructure to produce rockets and improvised explosive devices.
In July, Israel carried out a major counterterrorism operation in the city of Jenin, including the Jenin refugee camp, which Palestinian Authority residents have dubbed “the Martyr’s Capital.” The IDF uncovered laboratories for producing bombs, a rocket launcher and other weapons.
Since August, Israeli forces have also foiled attempts to smuggle Iranian explosives into the Palestinian Authority.
More than 22,000 Israelis live in the Gilboa Regional Council district.
