Israeli forces killed three Palestinian terrorists during operations overnight Tuesday in Jenin, located in northern Samaria.
During the raid, an Israeli Air Force craft attacked terrorists who had opened fire on the ground forces. Troops also confiscated weapons and uncovered explosives planted under roads.
Fourteen additional terrorism suspects were arrested.
במהלך המבצע איתרו הלוחמים אמצעי לחימה וחשפו מטענים שהוטמנו מתחת לצירים במטרה לפגוע בכוחותינו.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 21, 2024
כמו כן, במהלך המבצע כלי טיס של צה"ל תקף מחבלים שירו לעבר הכוחות, זוהו פגיעות>> pic.twitter.com/BlX8eYYKAV
Israeli forces detained 26 more suspects in operations across Judea and Samaria, including five members of a Hamas student cell in Hebron.
Soldiers also confiscated 10,000 shekels ($2,800) during the operations.
Since Oct. 7, the security forces have arrested more than 3,200 Palestinian terrorism suspects throughout Judea and Samaria, of whom over 1,350 are affiliated with Hamas.
IDF data shows a dramatic rise in terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada of 2000-05.
Over last year, there were 608 explosives, ramming, shooting and stabbing attacks, versus 170 in 2022, representing a 350% increase.
The 300 shooting attacks are the most since the bloody Palestinian terror wave of the early 2000s.
More than 50 of the 2023 shooting attacks emanated from the terrorist hotspot of Jenin, where the IDF undertook a major operation to root out terrorist infrastructure. The July 3-5 incursion was dubbed “Operation Home and Garden.”
The violence has continued to escalate in the months since Hamas started the current war with its murderous rampage across the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7. A total of 41 Israeli airstrikes have been carried out in Judea and Samaria since the start of the war, as well as more than 200 counterterror operations in Palestinian-run areas.
