Israel security forces operating to thwart terrorism in the western Samaria city of Tulkarem discovered a “makeshift laboratory for manufacturing drones,” the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday.
The raid, led by the 92nd “Shimshon” Infantry Battalion of the IDF’s Kfir Brigade, also led to the discovery of arms depots containing some 100 pipe bombs, eight improvised explosive devices and trigger systems.
The soldiers destroyed “several buildings that were used as terrorist infrastructure in Tulkarem,” according to the statement on Thursday.
Tulkarem—a city that borders the Samaria security barrier—abuts the Jewish state’s densely populated coastal plain east of Netanya and is eight miles from the Mediterranean Sea.
The discovery of the drone lab came six weeks after an unmanned aerial vehicle rigged with a pipe bomb was found outside the Jewish community of Yitzhar, located some 14 miles southeast of Tulkarem.
The Jan. 22 incident marked the second time a suspicious drone was found in the area. The previous UAV reportedly carried a mock bomb.
On Jan. 21, the IDF launched “Operation Iron Wall,” which seeks to neutralize the threat posed by terrorist hotbeds such as Tulkarem and Jenin in Samaria. The ongoing counter-terrorism operations mark a change in Jerusalem’s security strategy, Defense Minister Israel Katz has stated.
The Israeli military has intensified its raids in the area following the Feb. 20 failed bus bombings near Tel Aviv. Three empty buses exploded, and bombs were found on two others in what is being investigated as a coordinated terrorist attack. At least one of the bombs reportedly bore a note, in Arabic and Hebrew, that stated: “Revenge from the Tulkarem refugee camp.”
In a separate statement on Thursday, the IDF said its forces over the past week arrested 90 suspects across Judea and Samaria. Fourteen weapons and “thousands of shekels worth of terrorist funds” were seized, it added.
The IDF, Border Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) operated in new areas inside the northern Samaria terrorist stronghold of Jenin this week, the statement noted, adding that “several” terrorists were “eliminated.”
At the same time, approximately 30 suspects were arrested in Jenin.
The IDF “will continue to act to thwart terrorism in Judea and Samaria to maintain the security of the State of Israel’s citizens,” the army said.
