IDF, police nab four ISIS-linked jihadists in West Bank said to plan terror attack
Three suspects arrested last week, then another on Monday in raids on Jericho; separately, commandos detain Palestinian arms dealer in Ramallah
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Islamic State-affiliated jihadists who were suspected of planning a terror attack were captured by Israeli troops and police officers during two separate operations in the West Bank city of Jericho over the past week, security forces said on Tuesday.
Troops of the Lions of the Valley Battalion last week captured three members of the cell in Jericho, and in a separate raid on Monday carried out by Border Police officers, another member was nabbed, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police said.
“The terrorists were advancing terror activity and were suspected of intending to carry out an attack,” the joint statement said.
All four were handed over to the Shin Bet for questioning.
Also, IDF commandos captured a Palestinian arms dealer during a raid on Monday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the military said.
The IDF said soldiers of the Duvdevan commando unit operated in Ramallah, following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security agency, and “apprehended a terrorist who served as a weapons dealer in a terror network” in the area.
The suspect was handed over to the Shin Bet for further questioning.
The raids come as security forces embark on an operation across the West Bank aimed at arresting Palestinians “advancing incitement and terror on social media,” ahead of Ramadan, a month when tensions in the region tend to spiral.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the mass Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry. 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, 65 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
The same period has also seen a major surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The IDF recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025. The total for 2024 was 682 incidents.
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