Israeli forces have been conducting counter-terrorism raids in the West Bank in what is considered one of the longest operations in the territory since the Second Intifada. What began last week as raids to thwart Iranian-backed networks in the northern cities of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas, quickly escalated into prolonged urban firefights against well-armed militants.
As noted in a previous article, counter-terrorism in the West Bank is critical to Israel’s security. Like Hezbollah in the north, Iranian proxies in the West Bank — such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, among others — work in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza forcing Israel to divide its military resources among multiple fronts. If a ceasefire agreement is eventually reached in Gaza, many speculate that Hamas will continue its war against Israel in a newly enfranchised Palestinian West Bank where Hamas already enjoys overwhelming popularity.
The West Bank is currently divided according to the framework outlined by the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s. “Area A” falls under exclusive governance and security by the Palestinian Authority (PA), “Area B” is a region governed by the PA but under Israeli security, and “Area C” is governed and protected by Israel. The initial framework was empowered by the Israeli political left ideology that handing over land to the PA would lead to a lasting peace. It quickly came under scrutiny by the political right, which views land concessions to Palestinians as enfranchising terrorism, as seen in Gaza in 2005. (READ MORE: Six Hostages Murdered. Put Heat on Hamas, Not Netanyahu.)
While the PA maintains its own police and security forces in “Area A” independent Iranian-backed terrorist networks present the greatest threat to stability and development in most Palestinian cities. Operating out of refugee camps embedded in Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas, and Qalqilya, these networks undermine the PA’s authority and stand in as the local security force.
Israel’s objective for interventions in hotbeds such as Jenin and Tulkarm, including last week’s raids, is to thwart terrorist attacks carried out by these networks against Jews in the Israeli areas of the West Bank. These interventions are progressively met by well-armed and organized militias equipped with automatic weapons, explosives, and RPGs — armaments that travel overland from Iran and are smuggled across Jordan into the West Bank. According to three Iranian officials, the goal is to “foment unrest against Israel by flooding the enclave with as many weapons as it can…. [and] turn the West Bank into the next flashpoint in the long-simmering shadow war between Israel and Iran.”
On Aug. 30, a combined force of Israeli counter-terrorist units and IDF special forces, supported by gunship helicopters and drones, dug up roadside bombs and other IEDs outside of Jenin while engaged in a 14-hour firefight against local terrorist factions. According to the Jenin Municipality, 70 percent of the city’s roads and infrastructure have been destroyed since clashes erupted. By Monday the IDF had detained 25 terrorists on a security watch list and confiscated over 30 explosive devices.
Things took a different turn over the weekend as lone-wolf terrorists from Hebron carried out two successful car bombings in Jewish areas of the West Bank. One exploded at a gas station at the Gush Etzion intersection on the busy Route 60 between Hebron and Jerusalem. When nearby IDF soldiers rushed to the scene they were fired upon but ultimately stabilized the situation. The second bomb went off five miles away at the entrance gate to the Jewish town of Karmei Tzur. (READ MORE: The Face of Evil Is Masquerading as ‘Joy’)
These acts prompted Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, and other Israeli top brass, to conduct a situational assessment. “What you are doing here,” Halevi concluded, concerning the raids in Jenin and Tulkarm, “is exactly the idea to prevent the terrorists from loading explosives onto a car bomb and carrying out an attack in a community, against IDF troops, or anywhere else.”
On Sunday, Sept. 1, another lone wolf actor opened fire on an Israeli police car at a checkpoint near Hebron killing the three officers inside. The shooter fled to Hebron seeking protection at the Palestinian Authority security headquarters but was rejected and holed up in a nearby house. Later that afternoon, IDF and Shin Bet commandos demolished the house with the shooter inside. The culprit was identified as a member of the Palestinian National Guard and trained by American troops as part of an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
Lone wolf attacks are incentivized by the PA subsidizing acts of martyrdom. Seven percent of the PA’s budget, or $300 million annually, is allocated to supporting released terrorists and the pensions of the families of those “martyred” while killing “occupiers” — a term that includes Jews, as infidels, and any accomplice to the Zionist enterprise. Dividing the West Bank according to the Oslo framework was intended as a stepping stone toward Palestinian autonomy. But the concessions made for Jewish civilians in “Areas C” and Israeli security in “Area B” runs anathema to Hamas and the PA’s aspirations for complete control of the entire West Bank, and eventually all of Israel. (READ MORE: When It Comes to Israel, These People Are Idiots)
As expressed in their popular mantra, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” any Jewish existence between these bodies of water is viewed as “occupation,” and any means of self-defense — including ground troops in Gaza and counter-terrorist units in the West Bank — is deemed aggression. Checkpoint shootings, car bombs, and the events of Oct. 7 are legitimate acts of resistance in the eyes of Hamas and the PA. Hamas, for example, praised the car bombings on Saturday, with the statement: “Resistance will continue as long as Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people continues.”
Unrestrained terrorism in the West Bank poses a critical threat to Israel’s security and undermines legitimate aspirations for greater Palestinian autonomy and any confidence in a “two-state solution.” The West Bank’s border with Israel is almost 12 times the size of Gaza’s 37-mile border, with the major civilian concentrations of greater Tel Aviv and Netanya within 15 miles of Qalqilya and Tulkarm. If thousands of Hamas militants in Gaza were able to breach Israel’s border in multiple locations and penetrate as far as 20 miles into Israel on Oct. 7, any similar incursions organized by West Bank terrorist networks could result in exponentially higher civilian fatalities and abductions than what occurred last October.
The immediate objectives in Jenin and Tulkarm may be to thwart car bombs and foil lone wolf actors, but the long-term strategy is to prevent a large-scale attack against Israeli civilians that might dwarf Oct. 7.
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