Shin Bet chief said to urge ministers to approve major counterterror op in West Bank

Against the backdrop of the deadly terror shooting in the West Bank earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consulted with a small group of ministers and security chiefs, Channel 12 reports.

During the meeting, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar urged the government to approve a major IDF counterterror operation in the West Bank.

The IDF has already been carrying out near-daily raids throughout the West Bank and in recent weeks, it has been joined by the Palestinian Authority, which is carrying out an unprecedented operation of its own in the Jenin refugee camp, which has become a hotbed for Iran-backed armed groups.

But Bar appears to argue in favor of a more intensive effort by Israel.

“The significant decrease in the number of attacks in Judea and Samaria [West Bank] is deceptive and does not reflect the scope of terrorism on the ground. We identify a consistent escalating trend from [2021] where attackers have shifted from throwing Molotov cocktails to using rifles and explosive devices,” Channel 12 quotes Bar as having said during the meeting.

“Israel should learn from October 7 and not allow the intensification of these terrorist elements. Therefore a broad, reality-changing move must be initiated that will collapse and eliminate the phenomenon of the armed Palestinian battalions in Judea and Samaria in order to ensure our freedom of operation there,” Bar says.