An Israel Defense Forces soldier was moderately wounded by terrorist gunfire during an operation in the Palestinian city of Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria, the military announced on Sunday morning.
“The soldier was evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment. His family has been notified,” the IDF said, adding that troops had launched a search for the terrorist.
Last week, IDF soldiers, under the direction of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), arrested 57 wanted terrorists in operations throughout Judea and Samaria, the military said on Friday.
In Hebron in Judea, the troops arrested several members of a terrorist cell that had been plotting an attack “in the immediate future,” it said. Two additional terrorists who were “engaged in the building of terrorist infrastructure” were apprehended in the area.
In the Binyamin Brigade deployment area in southern Samaria, troops arrested 12 suspected terrorists and destroyed weapon-production machinery. In Beitunia, near Ramallah, soldiers raided a store and seized “military” equipment used for terrorism, the IDF said.
Meanwhile, Menashe Brigade troops in northern Samaria arrested wanted individuals and seized an M16 rifle during a counter-terrorism operation in the village of Silat al-Harithiya near Jenin.
Soldiers from the Samaria, Etzion and Ephraim brigades operated in several villages and in the terrorist hub of Tulkarem, which borders the security barrier in western Samaria, arresting 25 terrorism suspects, including Palestinians who threw rocks at civilians, the IDF said.
The troops also uncovered thousands of shekels in terrorism funding.
All suspects and seized weapons and funds were transferred for further processing by the Judea and Samaria District Police and the Shin Bet.
In related news, IDF soldiers on Saturday evening fired on a Palestinian vehicle that accelerated toward them in the Haret al-Sheikh neighborhood of Hebron, the army said.
The military said that “an initial review indicates that IDF soldiers operating in the area responded with fire at a vehicle that accelerated toward them, due to concerns of an imminent threat to them. At this stage, no conclusive findings indicate that the incident constituted an intentional terror attack.” The incident remains under review, according to the military.
On Dec. 29, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as a minister within the Defense Ministry with authority over civil affairs in Judea and Samaria, called for far-reaching counter-terrorism measures, including expanding military operations in the region.
Smotrich spoke three days after a Palestinian terrorist from Qabatiya, near Jenin in northern Samaria, murdered two Israeli civilians and wounded two others in a series of attacks in and around the northern city of Beit She’an.
Jerusalem’s most pressing national responsibility is to confront terrorism in Judea and Samaria “at its roots,” he told JNS, urging expanded IDF operations across Palestinian “refugee” camps.
While the Israeli military has already been operating in these areas, Smotrich said the effort needed to be significantly expanded to include clearing the camps, relocating civilians for their protection, dismantling terrorist infrastructure and eliminating local armed groups backed by Iran.
