11 Palestinians killed as IDF launches major anti-terror raid in West Bank
Operation focusing on Tulkarem area, where Tel Aviv bomb attack is thought to have originated; several drone strikes carried out
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
At least eleven Palestinians were killed in a series of drone strikes and clashes with the Israel Defense Forces in the northern West Bank early Wednesday, as the Israeli military said it had launched a large-scale counterterrorism operation.
According to the IDF, the raid was largely focused on the Tulkarem area, but troops were also carrying out activities in Jenin and the Far’a camp near Tubas.
The operation, involving the Kfir Brigade, the Duvdevan Commando Unit, combat engineers, and Border Police, was expected to last at least several days, military sources said.
Two Palestinian gunmen were killed during clashes with Border Police officers in Jenin, and another three in a drone strike in a nearby village, according to the IDF and Palestinian health officials.
Four more Palestinian gunmen, who “endangered forces” carrying out a raid, were killed in a drone strike in Far’a, the army said.
Palestinian media reported that another man was shot dead in Kafr Dan near Jenin, while another was killed in Nur Shams, bringing the day’s toll to 11.
The IDF did not immediately comment on the latest two deaths.
כוחות צה"ל, שב"כ ומג"ב החלו הלילה במבצע לסיכול טרור בג׳נין ובטול-כרם.
במהלך הלילה כלי טיס תקפו וחיסלו מהאוויר בג׳נין שלושה מחבלים חמושים אשר היוו איום על הלוחמים בשטח.במקביל, פתחו הכוחות במבצע מוסק במרחב פרעה שבחטיבת הבקעה והעמקים במהלכו כלי-טיס תקף וחיסל מהאוויר ארבעה מחבלים… pic.twitter.com/Y8hQoh4cl0
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) August 28, 2024
Another drone strike in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem wounded two, Palestinian media reported.
Statements from branches of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing in Jenin and Tulkarem claimed they were engaging Israeli troops in heavy gun battles.
In Far’a, IDF troops located what the military described as a command room used by local terror operatives embedded within a mosque.
The site had numerous surveillance cameras hooked up to television screens, which according to the IDF was used by terror operatives to track Israeli forces.
A video from an IDF drone showed the entrance to the mosque, the walls of which were plastered with “martyr posters.” The video also showed equipment that the IDF said is used to build explosive devices.
Further inside the mosque, several primed explosive devices were found, according to the IDF.
On Wednesday night, Palestinian media reported that the mosque was blown up.
Earlier Wednesday, several wanted Palestinians had been detained amid the operation.
The IDF said that many explosive devices planted underneath roads were neutralized and weapons were also seized.
Troops taking part in the raid were operating in an area from which an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv was launched last week, IDF sources said.
The military believed that a terror network that planned and directed the intended attack was based in the Tulkarem area.
The bomber was named by Hamas as Jaafar Mona, from the West Bank city of Nablus. He was killed when a bomb in his backpack exploded prematurely as he walked down a Tel Aviv sidewalk. One passerby was injured.
The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups claimed responsibility for the attack on August 18, although they did not offer any proof.
There were no reports of troops hurt in the operation as of Wednesday morning.
Also Wednesday, the IDF and Shin Bet security agency in a joint statement said an airstrike two days earlier targeted five terror operatives at an “operations room” in Nur Shams.
According to the statement, the site was used to oversee “terror activities in the area and harm” Israeli forces.
The army confirmed Palestinian reports that among those killed was Jibril Jibril, a Hamas member who was released by Israel in a November deal with the terror group.
The army says the strike also killed bombmaker Adnan Jaber, as well as terrorists Mahand Qarawi and Mohammed Yousef.
The IDF published footage of the strike.
בפעילות משותפת של צה"ל ושב"כ, כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף וחיסל שלשום, חמישה מחבלים שפעלו בחדר מבצעים במרחב נור א-שמס שבחטיבת מנשה. המתחם שימש את המחבלים לניהול פעילות הטרור במרחב ולפגיעה בכוחותינו הפועלים בשטח>> pic.twitter.com/ae799t3a4S
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 28, 2024
In the past 10 months, the IDF has carried out more than 60 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 650 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 27 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
