IDF aircraft strikes terror cell in Nur Shams camp

An Israel Defense Forces aircraft on Tuesday night struck a Palestinian terror cell planting a roadside bomb in the Nur Shams camp, east of Tulkarem in Samaria.

Four terrorists were killed in the strike, according to the military.

The development comes after Sgt. First Class (res.) Yehuda Geto, 22, was killed and another soldier seriously wounded by Palestinian terrorists in the camp on Monday.

According to an initial IDF probe, the two soldiers were inside a Panther APC, which was being driven by Geto, when terrorists activated a powerful explosive charge, killing him and disabling the vehicle.

The bomb, which reportedly used “dozens” of pounds of explosive material, had been buried just under the surface of the road.

The Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization took responsibility for the bombing, publishing a video of the incident.

Last week, an IDF soldier was killed and 16 were wounded during a counterterror operation in Jenin in northern Samaria. An initial inquiry into the incident indicated that an APC was disabled by a bomb buried under a road. The blast lightly wounded the troops inside the vehicle.

Then, when additional forces were rushed to the scene to evacuate the wounded troops, a second explosive charge was triggered, causing the death of Capt. Alon Sacgiu, 22, and wounding additional soldiers.

Ynet noted that the two attacks in Samaria were different in nature. In the June 27 incident, the explosive device was planted at a depth of over 1.5 meters (5 feet) under the road’s surface, while Sgt. Geto is believed to have been killed by a shallowly buried bomb in an area where the army believed there was no risk.

Judea and Samaria saw a dramatic rise in Palestinian terrorist attacks in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada of 2000-05, per IDF data.

Since the beginning of the war with Hamas on Oct. 7, the Israel Defense Forces has carried out intensive operations in Samaria, arresting more than 4,000 terror suspects.