Israeli security forces operating in the Samaria city of Jenin have detained hundreds of Palestinian suspects in a major counterterrorism raid that has already lasted some 30 hours, the Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday.
The suspects were transferred for questioning by Israel’s security agencies, added the military.
IDF soldiers, as well as officers from the Israel Border Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), have so far searched more than 400 buildings and confiscated 30 weapons, large amounts of ammunition, explosives and other military equipment, the IDF said.
Troops also uncovered and destroyed six bomb laboratories, several tunnel shafts and four “war rooms” used by terrorists in Jenin’s “refugee camp” to monitor IDF counterterrorism activities.
The IDF continued its operations in Jenin on Wednesday afternoon.
In the early hours of the operation in Jenin on Tuesday morning, at least four terrorists were killed during a gun battle with Israeli forces. Troops were also attacked with explosives and firebombs.
Four soldiers sustained shrapnel injuries on Tuesday from “controlled explosions,” the army said. They were hospitalized with minor injuries.
In response, an IDF drone struck the terrorist forces, killing at least four and wounding others, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. The P.A. claimed a fifth Palestinian died overnight.
Since the beginning of the war, more than 2,200 wanted suspects have been arrested throughout Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, at least 1,190 of whom are associated with Hamas.
Palestinian terrorists in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley have escalated their campaign against Israeli civilians and security forces in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in the northwestern Negev, data published by Channel 14 News on Monday shows.
In the nine weeks since Hamas launched its cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip, the broadcaster counted 1,388 attacks in the disputed territories, including 569 cases of rock-throwing, 287 attacks with explosives, 143 fire bombings and 70 terrorist shootings.
Three Israelis—a civilian, a soldier and a Border Police officer—have been murdered in Judea and Samaria since Oct. 7.
In addition, at least 52 Israelis sustained injuries, according to Channel 14. Sixteen people were wounded by stoning, 10 sustained gunshot wounds, eight were violently attacked by Palestinians and two were injured in a vehicular assault, according to the report.
At least 19 members of the security forces were wounded during counterterrorism raids in Judea and Samaria, while one Israeli was moderately injured as he “neutralized” a Palestinian terrorist.
