An Israel Defense Forces airstrike killed the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group in the Nur Shams camp, located east of Tulkarem in western Samaria, the military announced early Friday.
Muhammad Abdullah became the local head of the Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist organization after the IDF killed his predecessor Muhamad Jabber on Aug. 29.
A second unnamed terrorist was eliminated in Thursday’s airstrike, the IDF said.
Abdullah was responsible for planning and directing “many attacks,” including targeting Israeli troops with explosives.
The slain terrorists were found in possession of M-16 rifles, which soldiers confiscated along with their vehicle, the military said.
בפעילות משותפת של צה"ל ושב"כ אמש, במהלך פעילות עם לוחמי חטיבת כפיר, כלי טיס תקף במרחב טולכרם וחיסל את מחמד עבדאללה, ראש התארגנות הטרור של הגא״פ בנור א-שמס שבטול כרם, יחד עימו חוסל מחבל נוסף>> pic.twitter.com/tl0TRbZ7z6
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 11, 2024
Last week, an Israeli Air Force fighter jet conducted a rare strike in Tulkarem in northwestern Samaria, targeting top Hamas terrorist Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi.
The Palestinian Authority reported at least 18 fatalities in the strike, with a local security source telling Agence France-Presse it was the deadliest in Judea and Samaria since the Second Intifada of 2000-05.
Ayyth Radwan, the head of Islamic Jihad’s Tulkarem branch, was also reportedly killed.
Oufi was planning a terrorist attack “in the immediate time frame,” according to the Israel Defense Forces, and directed a thwarted car bombing last month near Ateret in the Binyamin region of Samaria.
The IDF said Oufi was involved in smuggling weapons to terrorists who perpetrated several recent attacks against Israelis, including some that wounded civilians.
He also “worked to establish terrorist networks on behalf of Hamas and assisted terror operatives in the area to carry out significant shooting and explosive attacks,” added the military.
On Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, head of the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration, said the IDF over the past year rescued more than 200 people—civilians and soldiers—from territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority and other unsafe areas in Judea and Samaria.
