An Israeli soldier was moderately wounded by an explosive device during a counterterrorism raid overnight Monday in the Palestinian-controlled village of Burqa in Samaria.
The wounded soldier had been evacuated to hospital and Israeli forces were searching the area, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, Israeli forces have arrested some 860 Palestinians across Judea and Samaria. According to the military, more than 500 of them are affiliated with Hamas.
On Saturday night, Israel struck a “terror route” under a mosque in the Jenin refugee camp, killing Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members planning an “imminent terror attack,” according to the IDF.
The terror cell was using the Al-Ansar mosque as an operations room to plan and carry out acts of terror, including a bombing near the security barrier in northern Samaria on Oct. 14.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the cell was a “ticking time bomb” planning a “murderous terror attack inside Israel.”
Earlier on Saturday, Israeli forces raided the Samaria home of top Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri, detaining several of his relatives.
Al-Arouri, the commander of Hamas operations in Judea in Samaria and the deputy of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, is currently based in Lebanon.
Israeli forces reportedly raised a banner over the home showing al-Arouri on the backdrop of an Israeli flag. On it appeared the caption: “This was the house of Saleh al-Arouri and has become the headquarters of Abu al-Nimer.”
Abu al-Nimer is reportedly an alias for the Israeli intelligence officer responsible for the area.
