A counter-terrorism operation in the Samaria city of Tulkarem led Israel Defense Forces soldiers to weapons, including rockets and explosives, linked to multiple roadside bombings, the military said on Tuesday.
The IDF, guided by Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) intelligence, on Nov. 17 launched a counter-terror operation in the western Samaria city following an investigation and arrests tied to three bombings targeting IDF vehicles in recent months, according to the IDF.
In one of those attacks, on a military SUV, the former commander of the Menashe Regional Brigade was injured, the statement noted.
During the Tulkarem raids, Israeli forces found three rockets “at various stages of preparation,” several explosive devices and materials for producing bombs, the IDF said. One of the projectiles contained a warhead and explosive material, the army added.
The discovery of the weapons cache a stone’s throw from Israel’s densely-populated central region indicates “the severity of the threat in the area and the repeated attempts to advance terror attacks against IDF soldiers and additional targets, as well as the necessity for proactive and extensive operations in the area,” the statement warned.
In November, Palestinian terrorists in western Samaria for the first time tried to fire a rocket carrying powerful explosives at the country’s center. The projectile, the warhead of which contained high explosives with the potential to cause mass casualties, was discovered in the village of Budrus near Ramallah, about six miles from Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Security forces intensified raids across Judea and Samaria following the failed Feb. 20 bombings outside Tel Aviv, in which three empty buses exploded and additional devices were discovered on two others.
At least one of the bombs bore a note, in Arabic and Hebrew, that read, “Revenge from the Tulkarem refugee camp,” according to Channel 12.
Israeli security forces on Friday concluded a two-week counter-terror operation in northern Samaria, during which six terrorists were killed and dozens of wanted individuals were apprehended, the military said.
Troops seized hundreds of thousands of shekels in terror funds and dozens of weapons, including pistols, M16 rifles and locally-made submachine guns, as well as ammunition and knives. More than 30 targeted strikes were carried out, according to an IDF statement.
Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria at least 6,343 times in 2024, according to figures published by Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria).
The group’s data did not include the hundreds of attacks targeting Israeli security personnel during ongoing counter-terrorism raids in cities and towns controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Twenty-seven Israelis were killed in Judea and Samaria in 2024, and over 300 others were wounded, the group stated in its annual report.
