Fresh Air

There has been an alarming escalation of security threats from the northern West Bank in recent months. Besides a number of deadly roadside ambushes, these include a suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv on August 18, the emergence of video footage of terrorists carrying a shoulder-fired missile within range of the Trans-Israel Highway, Iran’s smuggling of arms through the Jordanian border and even the beginnings of crude Gaza-style rocket attacks into Israel and into Israeli settlements. Against this background,  the IDF and internal security service Shin Bet have just launched their largest military campaign into Palestinian-ruled areas in the West Bank since the Second Intifada.

According to reports in Israel Hayom and Ynet (both on their Hebrew sites), the counter-terrorism operation, which began after nightfall on August 27, is extraordinarily complex, including the simultaneous use of combat infantry, drone strikes and undercover units. Areas of focus include Jenin and the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem. At the same time, a separate operation is underway in the northern Jordan Valley to destroy terror infrastructure that has been growing in the Far’a refugee camp.

Ynet said:

“As part of the large divisional operation, the IDF has surrounded hospitals near the refugee camps, including Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, to prevent terrorists from [seeking refuge in] them, and to screen the patients who enter.”

According to the reports, the IDF has also effectively surrounded Jenin to prevent the escape of wanted terrorists.

In terms of immediate casualties, Israel’s national broadcaster Kan (Hebrew) reported that four Palestinians were targeted and killed overnight in a drone attack in the Far’a refugee camp in the Tubas area, four were killed in a vehicle that was attacked by a drone in Sir, south of Jenin, and two were killed by IDF fire in Jenin.

Also today, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office revealed on “X” that a drone attack on Monday on a terror command and control centre in Nur Shams had killed five terrorists in action, including Gavril Ghassan Ismail Gavril, a Hamas terrorist who had been freed as part of the November deal for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

On this, Joe Truzman, a Senior Research Analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies commented:

“The elimination of [Gavril] underscores claims that Palestinian terrorists released from prison often resume activities against Israel. There’s no better example of this than Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar himself, who was released from incarceration in Israel as part of a deal to free captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. This clearly poses a significant challenge for Israel, which must carefully weigh its options as it contemplates which senior terrorist it might have to release in a ceasefire deal with Hamas.”

While it’s unclear how long the current operation, dubbed “Summer Camp,” will take, it comes on the heels of an August 7 report that General Avi Bluth, the new head of IDF Central Command which is responsible for the West Bank, has requested an increase in combat troop strength. This suggests the IDF intends ongoing increased efforts to root out terrorism in the northern West Bank in areas that the Palestinian Authority has been either unwilling or, more likely, simply unable to control.