IDF says it has expanded northern West Bank counter-terrorism op to Nablus area

The IDF says it has expanded its ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank, with troops now operating in the Nablus area.

The military has been carrying out a major offensive in the northern West Bank, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, since January 21, mainly focusing on the Jenin and Tulkarem areas.

Yesterday, officers of the police’s elite Gideonim unit (Unit 33), alongside the IDF and Shin Bet security agency, detained Mohammed al-Bana, a senior member of the former Lion’s Den terror group, the military says.

The IDF says Bana was armed with an assault rifle and a grenade when he was arrested. He was also shot in the leg during the arrest. Bana was involved in numerous shooting and explosive attacks against troops in the West Bank, the military adds.

Troops of the Duvedavan commando unit, meanwhile, detained another wanted Palestinian who the IDF says was involved in shooting attacks on soldiers and was a “prominent weapons dealer” in the West Bank.