The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday extracted two Israeli citizens who had accidentally entered the Palestinian village of Raba, near the terror hub of Jenin in northern Samaria, the military confirmed.
“Upon receiving the report, IDF soldiers from the Menashe Brigade and the Jordan Valley Brigade contacted the Israelis, arrived at the area and began searches in the village,” according to a Tuesday night statement.
Troops “located the Israelis and safely evacuated them,” the army said, noting entry into Palestinian Authority-controlled areas is “prohibited and dangerous for Israelis and constitutes a violation of the law.”
Israelis are barred from entering many Palestinian villages in Judea and Samaria, which are under full P.A. administrative and security control, collectively designated as Area A under the Oslo Accords.
In August, an Israeli civilian was attacked by a Palestinian mob after taking a wrong turn into the Arab village of Mukhmas in Samaria.
Several Palestinians hurled rocks at the victim, lightly wounding him, but he was able to flee the town independently, according to the IDF.
Two months prior, soldiers rescued a group of Israeli civilians after they clashed with Palestinian terrorists while trying to reach Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus (Shechem), central Samaria.
In October 2024, Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration, revealed that the army over the course of one year had rescued more than 200 people from areas under the control of the P.A. and other unsafe areas in Judea and Samaria.
“Since Oct. 7, [2023], officers of the unit rescued more than 200 Israelis, including soldiers, from Area A and other dangerous places in the area. Every single one of these incidents had the potential to set the area on fire and, God forbid, cause bodily harm,” the top military official said.
