Israel security forces on Sunday thwarted an infiltration attempt by armed Palestinian terrorists near the haredi community of Metzad, also known as Asfar, in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.
A civilian security guard at a nearby agricultural outpost identified a suspicious vehicle and notified Israel Defense Forces soldiers, according to reports.
The terrorists subsequently broke through a roadblock and shot at the troops, who returned fire, killing one gunman and wounding another, the military said.
No Israeli casualties were reported in the terror incident.
IDF, Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) personnel detained 14 terrorism suspects overnight Saturday in a series of raids in Judea and Samaria, including two sisters of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed in an airstrike in Beirut two weeks ago.
Dalal and Fatima al-Arouri were arrested near Ramallah in al-Bireh and Arura, respectively, on suspicion of inciting terrorism against Israelis, the IDF said on X.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war with Hamas on Oct. 7, Israeli forces have arrested more than 2,650 wanted Palestinians throughout Judea and Samaria, 1,300 of whom are affiliated with the terrorist group.
On Friday night, an IDF soldier was shot and moderately wounded when three Palestinian terrorists infiltrated the Jewish community of Adora in Judea. The victim, aged 34, sustained a bullet wound to the leg and was evacuated to the hospital in stable condition.
After a short manhunt, security forces killed the three Palestinians. Security forces found an M-16 rifle, several knives and firebombs on the bodies of the terrorists.
Also on Friday, a possible Palestinian terror tunnel was located near Esh Kodesh, a Jewish community outside Shiloh in Samaria’s Binyamin region.
The shaft, several feet deep, was discovered under an illegal structure between Esh Kodesh and the Arab village of Qusra and was protected by a heavy steel door and security cameras, an IDF soldier said in a video shared on social media.
Security officials told Israel Hayom that while it is not yet possible to determine the tunnel’s purpose, it was likely dug for terrorist purposes and may have been intended for hiding illegal weapons or terrorists.
The IDF has also been investigating a possible terrorist tunnel that soldiers discovered near a Jewish community in the Hebron Hills in Judea earlier this month. The shaft was located a few hundred yards from Telem, a community of some 80 families northwest of Hebron.
