Over the past week, the Israel Defense Forces arrested about 100 Palestinian suspects and seized more than 1 million shekels ($310,000) in terror funds in Judea and Samaria, the military said on Friday.
“Forces from the Binyamin Brigade completed several operations, including a large-scale nighttime operation in which 38 wanted suspects were arrested in more than 15 different villages,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
In addition, troops arrested several Hamas terrorists and another terrorist who was planning to attack IDF soldiers, the army added.
Troops from the IDF Samaria Brigade apprehended 16 wanted suspects and seized 26 drones that were being held illegally in the Palestinian village of Fandaqumiya. The activity was carried out alongside ongoing operations in the Samaria city of Qabatiya, near Jenin, the hometown of a terrorist who murdered two civilians in the Valleys area in northern Israel on Dec. 26.
Troops from the Ephraim Brigade, in the Qalqilya sector in western Samaria, arrested six terrorist operatives, arms dealers and another terrorist identified with Hamas, the IDF added.
The military added that Etzioni Brigade troops in Judea operated in several Palestinian villages southwest of Jerusalem and arrested terrorists who had thrown stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli civilians and soldiers. Members of the brigade questioned dozens of suspects and located a hunting rifle and ammunition in the Beit Ummar area.
Soldiers from the Judea Brigade responsible for the Hebron sector completed three operations, during which they arrested 18 wanted terrorist suspects, including six key suspects involved in an arms-trafficking network, the army said.
It was during these operations that the terror funds, as well as two weapons and ammunition, were uncovered, according to the military.
On Dec. 31, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the military to prepare for the possibility of a large-scale terrorist infiltration in Judea and Samaria, similar to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre.
Katz’s order followed the minister’s visit to the Judea and Samaria Division headquarters near the town of Beit El, north of Jerusalem.
The minister told participants that IDF operations in northern Samaria over the past year had been effective, leading to a drop of more than 80% in terrorism in the area. The campaign included evacuating residents, targeting terrorists and maintaining an ongoing Israeli military presence.
