An Israeli Air Force craft attacked a terrorist cell in the western Samaria city of Tulkarem on Thursday afternoon, killing a senior terror leader.
The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) in a joint statement on Thursday evening confirmed that the IAF strike targeted Tareq al-Doush, a local commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a “military” arm of P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party.
“Over the past year, Tareq recruited several operatives who received Iranian funding from headquarters in Lebanon linked to the Maqdah family to promote attacks against Israeli targets,” the statement added, in reference to Munir Maqdah, a senior Fatah operative in Lebanon.
According to the IDF and Shin Bet, al-Doush’s terror cell was behind several shootings targeting troops, checkpoints and Jewish towns in Samaria. They also made plans to carry out attacks in pre-1967 Israel.
Two months ago, al-Doush told the anti-Israel Mondoweiss website that Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of some 1,200 people “was like a dream for us.”
Palestinian media reported that the IDF also implemented a “pressure cooker” protocol—increased gunfire to force a wanted terrorist out—during an operation in Nablus, some 12 miles southeast of Tulkarem.
Arab reports claimed that at least two people were killed and several others were wounded during the military raid in the Samaria city.
Judea and Samaria leaders on Sunday issued a letter to Israel’s Security Cabinet before its weekly meeting, calling on the government to take preventative military measures amid an uptick in terrorism.
According to Israel’s Channel 14 News broadcaster, Cabinet members convened at IDF Central Command headquarters near Jerusalem’s Neve Yaakov neighborhood on Sunday to discuss security developments in Judea and Samaria.
In recent years, Iranian-backed terrorist groups have taken over cities and towns in Samaria, including Jenin and Tulkarem, prompting Israeli forces to carry out counter-terrorism raids.
Under the terms of the Oslo Accords, which Jerusalem signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s, the newly created P.A. was tasked with fighting terrorism in parts of Judea and Samaria.
The Palestinian Authority earlier this month launched a rare counter-terror operation due to fears that terrorist organizations could attempt a coup inspired by the rebel takedown of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.
Last week, Islamic Jihad terrorists from Tulkarem reportedly shot at the headquarters of the P.A. police in the city, lightly wounding two officers.
Members of Ramallah’s forces have a long history of carrying out attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Last year, Fatah boasted that most of its “martyrs” had served in the Palestinian Authority Security Forces.
In addition, the Hamas terrorist organization has recruited dozens of PASF operatives, using them as terrorist combatants and for intelligence gathering, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported in mid-2023.