Israeli forces thwart terror attack in Bethlehem raid

Israeli security forces operating in the Judean city of Bethlehem had arrested a terrorist cell that was about to carry out an attack, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday evening.

In separate overnight raids in the nearby villages of Halhul, Sa’ir and Beit Sahour, seven additional wanted terrorists were arrested, it said.

During operations in the Judea Brigade deployment area, which is responsible for the Hebron region, security forces detained four suspects, confiscated a weapon and terrorist funds.

Meanwhile, an operation in a village in Samaria saw Israeli soldiers confiscate an M16 assault rifle and “additional combat equipment.”

In the villages of Shuweika, Kafr ad-Dik and Izbat Shufa in the IDF’s Ephraim Brigade, which covers the Tulkarem and Qalqilya sectors in western Samaria, three Arab terrorists were arrested, the army said.

In the Menashe Brigade, which operates around the northern Samaria terrorist hub of Jenin, two suspects were detained, the IDF announced.

A total of 16 suspects captured in the nightly raids were “transferred to the security forces for further processing,” according to the statement.

On Tuesday evening, the IDF released additional details about the extensive overnight operations in Judea and Samaria, including the confiscation of 20 ready-to-use pipe explosives and the apprehension of suspects found in possession of those explosives in the areas of Beit Ummar and Al-Fureidis.

Simultaneously, troops operating in the Surif area apprehended four individuals suspected of attacking Israeli civilians and setting property on fire near Bat Ayin.

In Tubas, within the Menashe Regional Brigade’s territory, two suspected terrorists were taken into custody for allegedly planning attacks on civilians and security forces using explosives; soldiers confiscated their weapons.

Lastly, in the Binyamin Regional Brigade sector, troops operated in eight different areas, detaining two additional suspects for allegedly trading weapons and throwing rocks.

Last week, Israeli forces detained 70 Palestinian suspects during counter-terrorism operations across the Judea and Samaria areas.

Seventy-seven percent of Israeli Jews fear the possibility of another Oct. 7, 2023-style attack, this time originating from Judea and Samaria, according to a Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) survey.

On July 10, Palestinian terrorists killed an Israeli man in his 20s at a Judea shopping mall in Judea in a combined shooting and stabbing.

Following the attack, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed soldiers to continue operations across Judea and Samaria, emphasizing that the swift response of the IDF and civilian security personnel played a crucial role in preventing a much larger and more devastating attack.

Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews across Judea and Samaria at least 6,343 times last year, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO.

Twenty-seven Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2024, and more than 300 others were wounded, the group said in its annual report.