Prime Minister Yair Lapid visited the headquarters of the Shin Bet security service’s Samaria division on Thursday together with Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, the deputy head of the service, managers, and the operators of the area, and reviewed the recent security escalation in the area.
In recent months, the Islamic Jihad organization, under Iran’s guidance, has been working to establish an independent territory that will not be subject to the power of the Palestinian Authority.
In the city of Jenin and in the neighboring villages, there are already several hundred armed terrorists, thousands of weapons, and large quantities of ammunition. The Islamic Jihad managed to push the PA completely out of the Jenin area and established a new military framework called the “Jenin Battalion” which also includes armed activists from other groups such as Fatah’s “al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades” and Hamas.
This framework began to spread towards the areas of Shechem and Tulkarm and carried out shooting attacks against IDF forces and Israeli civilians.
In wake of multiple terror attacks in the area in recent weeks, Lapid declared that Israel “will continue to stop and thwart terrorist activity and terrorists in the field. We expect the Palestinian Authority to take responsibility and fight terrorism.”
Three attacks in the past two weeks were committed by members of the PA security services, including an attack on Tuesday night in which IDF Major Bar Falach was killed.
Lapid held a situation assessment with the participation of the directors of the Samaria region, during which he received intelligence and operational reviews.
“We are dealing with a complex reality that requires a combination of a hard and determined hand against areas where terrorism rears its head, while making an effort to maintain the fabric of life in the area,” he said.
At the end of a security situation assessment earlier in the day, Minister of Defense Benny Gantz decided on the complete closure of the Gilboa (Jalama) and Salem crossings, until further notice. He also decided to stop the entry permits to Israel of the residents of Kafr Dan, from which the two terrorists emerged, until further notice.
In the last year, the IDF prevented the entry into Israel of approximately 2,500 relatives of terrorists who carried out attacks against Israelis.
Israel’s security establishment held earlier this week an assessment regarding the security preparations for the upcoming High holidays which will commence in 10 days. In the discussion, Lapid was presented with about 70 concrete warnings of plans by terror organizations to carry out terrorist attacks in Israel during the holidays. The security system has registered a record number of alerts for attempted attacks in recent months, which are only increasing ahead of the Tishrei holidays.
Kan 11 news recently reported an uptick in the number of shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria since the beginning of the year. About 60 such attacks have occurred since the beginning of 2022, compared to about 50 shooting attacks in all of 2021, 48 in 2020, and 61 in 2019.
The police are planning a record deployment of about 20,000 officers who will be stationed all over the country, with a focus on Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. The alert level during the holidays is expected to rise to one level before the highest.
