With the ink dry on the International Criminal Court’s phony arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the chorus of European village idiots is already clamoring for more.

In addition to imprisoning Israel’s prime minister, they wish to expand France’s Oct. 5 arms embargo of Israel to all of Europe. The effort is gaining traction. The ICC’s endorsement of “war crimes” gives cover to supporters of terror, antisemites and the willfully ignorant. A crescendo is coming.

This is not the first French embargo of Israel or France’s first betrayal of the Jewish state. France, once a staunch Israeli ally, announced its last embargo on June 2, 1967.

That was just 72 hours before the start of the Six-Day War, as more than 130,000 Egyptian soldiers and 900 tanks had been massed on Israel’s southern frontier. Jordan mobilized 56,000 soldiers and 270 tanks to Israel’s east. Syria was poised to attack from the north with 50,000 men.

“Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel,” said Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The war’s aim, according to other Arab leaders, includes targeting and murdering Jewish civilians.

A well-intentioned but fruitless plan by then-President Lyndon Johnson to bust open Egypt’s naval blockade, "Operation Red Sea Regatta," amounted to nothing. Israel’s last major ally and arms supplier was France.

For 15 years beginning in 1953, the Franco-Israeli relationship had been strong and bilateral. Israel had provided ground forces to help France and the United Kingdom briefly retake the Suez Canal in 1956. Israeli experts served in support roles in the French military. Israeli submarine crews trained with French counterparts. The French played a role in helping Israel become a nuclear power.

Yet, in 1967, as Arab armies surrounded Israel, France quit without warning. French President Charles de Gaulle announced the end of the alliance and the beginning of an embargo. It was effective immediately.

France started by impounding 50 Mirage 5J fighter bombers that Israel had bought and paid for six months earlier for $200 million. Moreover, Israeli aeronautical engineers have helped France improve the design and performance of the Mirage over the years.

The jets were badly needed to defend civilian populations. The 11th-hour embargo was one of the greatest betrayals of modern diplomatic history.

In 1967, the Israeli public found France’s fecklessness infuriating, dangerous and confusing. Today, Israelis shrug.

The 1967 French arms embargo was a serious threat to Israel’s security, but the 2024 French arms embargo is not, even if it expands to other European Union countries. Israel has pursued a strategy of quasi-independence for its essential war materiel. It is even a leading global exporter of arms with 2.4% of the worldwide market. In 2013, Israel shipped arms worth $1.15 billion.

Israel’s edge is in high-tech and higher-profit weapons. These include guided munitions, missiles, missile-defense systems, advanced radars, avionics, cyber warfare and bleeding-edge military computing hardware and software.

As to what it still needs to import, after the 1967 betrayal by France, Israel found better allies and suppliers. It forged durable relationships with the United States and Germany, the best two arms partners on the planet. These trading relationships are bilateral.

Israel provided the United States with 10% of all its arms imports from 2021 until 2023 (total value: $331 million), according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI arms transfer database. It accounted for 4.4% of Germany’s arms imports during the same period.

As to global exports, there is a remarkable difference between Israel and France. Israel sells arms mostly to stable or democratic countries. In addition to the United States and Germany, it supplies India, the Philippines and others.

You cannot say the same about France’s customers. The French sell arms nearly indiscriminately. Customers need not be democratic, free or peaceful. The French sell weapons to nations with poor human-rights records, instability and civil wars. They have even sold arms to dictators that attack civilians.

For example, France sold armored vehicles to violent dictator Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe in 1999. They sold missiles to Hugo Chávez in 2002. They shipped mortars to Rwanda in 1991. They sold helicopters in 2009 and 2017 to Communist thug Evo Morales of Bolivia, who murdered and imprisoned members of his democratic opposition.

That’s not the end of it. France furnished missiles to Lebanon in 2019. In 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, France sold the Chinese Communist Party helicopters, missiles and naval guns. They sold the military Junta of Myanmar ship engines in 2015. They sold Russian President Vladimir Putin helicopters in 2013 as he armed Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

French amorality is good for business. The French are today the second largest arms exporter behind the United States, with 11% of the global arms market.

In the Middle East and wider region, France also sells weapons to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Somalia, Turkey, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Oman, Kuwait, Brunei, Bahrain and Algeria.

It seems that anyone can buy French arms. Except Jews.

Israel has done fine without French arms for two generations. The real question is how a morally bankrupt France—one that sells arms to dictators while ignoring the plight of innocent Jewish hostages in the Gaza Strip—can justify its existence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday for the latter's "strong statement" calling on Hamas to release the 101 hostages it has held in Gaza for 424 days.

"It is a forceful statement, which makes it clear that there is only one responsible for this situation, and that is Hamas," the Israeli premier said.

Netanyahu addressed the president-elect's remarks ahead of an Israeli government meeting in Nahariya, a northern city that has often been the target of cross-border attacks by Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon over the past 14 months.

"Hamas needs to release the hostages," Netanyahu said. "President Trump put the emphasis in the correct place, on Hamas, and not on the Israeli government, as is customary in some places."

Since shortly after Oct. 7, there have been global calls for Jerusalem to give in to Hamas's terms for a hostages-for-ceasefire agreement.

In his Monday statement, Trump vowed that there will be consequences for Hamas if the terror group does not release the hostages before his Jan. 20 inauguration.

“If the hostages are not released prior to Jan. 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as president of the United States, there will be all hell to pay in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity,” Trump stated.

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America,” he added. “Release the hostages now.”

Netanyahu said his government would continue to do everything in its power to release the 101 captives from Gaza, warning Hamas terrorists that "whoever harms them, their blood is on their own heads." (The latter is a biblical expression.)

"President Trump also said this yesterday, and this adds validity to this whole adage," he said. "We have already proven that we are fulfilling this edict, and we will not relent. We will return all of our hostages."

Netanyahu also commented on the news that Israel Defense Forces Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra—previously believed to be among the living captives—was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, and his body was taken to Gaza.

Israel will bring back "both the dead and the living," Netanyahu said. "On behalf of the government and citizens of Israel, I send my deepest condolences to the family and share in their heavy grief."

Neutra moved to the Jewish state from the United States in 2020.

"He immigrated to Israel to enlist in the IDF, chose a combat path and was chosen to command and lead, and that is exactly what he did at the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7," Netanyahu said. "He led his soldiers to defend the Envelope towns. He fought until he fell." (The premier referred to the Gaza Envelope.)

Neutra, 21, was a tank platoon commander in the 77th Battalion of the IDF's 7th Brigade. His death was pronounced by the Military Rabbinate based on new intelligence information. His family was notified.

Jerusalem believes that 97 of the 251 hostages taken during the Oct. 7 assault remain in Gaza after 423 days. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed during "Operation Protective Edge" in 2014.

The official figure includes 84 men, 13 women and two children under the age of five, among them 87 Israeli citizens and 10 foreign nationals—eight from Thailand, one from Nepal and one from Tanzania.

A total of 105 hostages were released in a November 2023 truce deal between Israel and Hamas, and four were returned prior to the deal. Eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops. The bodies of 37 have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by Israeli forces.

Anti-Israel students have always sought convenient, effortless ways to demonstrate their hatred for Israel. In the past, this has meant trying to remove Sabra brand hummus from campus food services. Starting at DePaul University in 2011, efforts to embargo Israeli-made food spread quickly to other campuses (the University of Ottowa in 2014, Swarthmore College in 2018, Dickinson College in 2019 and Harvard University in 2022), but after Oct. 7, student boycott demands grew more expansive. It’s no longer enough to change brands of hummus. Today’s students want to ban everything from Israel.

Graduate students at the City University of New York, for instance, now demand not only a ban on the familiar Sabra prohibition but one on “all fruits and vegetables grown in Israel.” And their list doesn’t end with food. They also demand that the entire CUNY system “cancel all forms of cooperation with Israeli academic institutions, including events, activities, agreements and research collaborations.”

What goes unsaid here is that not a single student will ever actually live up to these demands. The rhetorical flourishes are purely for show.

If the thousands of college students calling for a boycott of all things Israel want to live up to their sanctimonious rhetoric, they will have to give up a lot more than one brand of hummus. And they will end up sick, hungry and underemployed.

I call on all anti-Israel, BDS, protesting students and faculty members alike to prove that they aren’t the pikers, posers and half-milers I say they are by following through on their categorical rejection of any contact with, use of, or compliance with, any and all Israeli technologies, companies, products, ideas and universities. I dare these Pecksniffian pretenders to put their futures where their mouths are and abandon entirely anything with the taint of Israel.

It won’t be easy.

Let’s start with their cell phones. Israeli technology is central to the iPhone platform, so Apple phones are out. Unfortunately, they can’t just switch to Samsung. They’ll have to give up their digital umbilical cords altogether because the cell phone was invented in 1973 by Motorola’s Israeli Research and Development Department.

And it’s not just cell phones they will have to shun. Israeli technology is integral to many modern conveniences that college students rely on. If they want to live up to their anti-Israel commitment, they will have to stop using USB ports (an Israeli invention), thumb drives (an Israeli invention) and firewalls (another Israeli invention). Writing term papers, theses and dissertations without computers worked for centuries. They’ll adapt.

If today’s protesters ever find gainful employment outside of a few select cities, they will need a car, but they’ll have to boycott all models with cameras pointing outward. An Israeli invention called the Mobileye has been warning of obstacles and keeping drivers in their lanes for years. Mirrors work, too, as committed protesters will learn.

“No fruits or vegetables from Israel,” say the CUNY student protesters. Will they also eschew all fruits and vegetables grown with Israeli technology? Israel invented drip irrigation, which is used in almost all modern agricultural enterprises. After researching which fruits and vegetables were not grown with drip irrigation, anti-Israel protesters might find it easier just to give up fruits and vegetables. Or maybe they’ll grow their own, an unlikely scenario in New York City.

Will they boycott life-saving drugs and research developed by Israel? Multiple sclerosis is treated with a drug called Copaxone, developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.

It may soon be impossible to avoid Israeli NaNose technology and the “Sniff-Phone,” which smells diseases before they are manifested, allowing for preventative therapies before the onset of symptoms. Committed Israel boycotters will have to shun this technology in favor of the old ways of detecting diseases—often when they are too advanced to treat effectively.

Assiduously avoiding all Israeli medical technology may lead to unnecessary discomfort or worse. For instance, the “Pillcam,” invented in Israel, has led to the “capsule endoscopy,” in which a patient swallows a pill-sized wireless digital camera that transmits images as it travels from entrance to exit. Adhering to their anti-Israel ethos will require committed protesters to endure some far larger and more intrusive cameras should their physicians ever need a look at their entire digestive system.

Many of them seem heartless, too, but those who one day need heart surgery will have to forgo the flexible stent invented by an Israeli company called Medinol. The NIR stent or EluNIR has become standard since its invention in 1996. Protesters who shun all things Israel might be able to find some third-world clinic willing to use the rigid stents of an earlier era. I wish them luck.

I suspect that most of the anti-Israel protests are led by faculty and students in the humanities and social sciences, where anti-Israel virtue signaling is de rigueur and comes with few repercussions. Students in other areas of specialization, however, will have to make debilitating career challenges to live up to their performative rhetoric.

Israel has the greatest number of tech companies outside of Silicon Valley, but its influence on the field extends far beyond Israel. The recent Miami Tech and Invest Conference showed the extent to which Israeli companies are “transforming Miami into a global tech hub.” Any student of computer science or software engineering, or even a budding tech entrepreneur, will suffer greatly by boycotting all things Israel.

STEM students who refuse to work with Israeli technologies, scientists and universities will sabotage their careers. They will likely wind up at the bottom of their professions—far from important research and Nobel Prize winners. Israeli schools and research companies are responsible for many breakthroughs in detecting and treating cancer, and Israelis have dominated the Nobel Prize in chemistry for most of the 20th century.

Naturally, none of the student demands should be taken seriously. In America today, no one virtue signals like a college student. Their hunger strikes begin after breakfast and end at lunch; so, too, do their demands end the moment they sign a resolution or shout in front of the camera.

Of course, I would love for just one anti-Israel, pro-BDS, boycotting and/or divesting protester to prove me wrong and truly refrain from using or benefiting from anything derived from Israeli ingenuity. Write me, using pen and paper, of course, and tell me how it’s going. Find an envelope and stamp, and mail it to me at: The Investigative Project on Terrorism, 5614 Connecticut Ave. NW, No. 341, Washington, DC 20015.

The earliest known Chinese inscription in Israel from about 500 years ago has been uncovered in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday.

The rare 16th century CE Chinese inscription, unearthed in a dig on Mount Zion and discovered on a porcelain bowl fragment, reads: “Forever we will guard the eternal spring,” the state-archaeological body said.

Ancient Chinese porcelain vessels were previously found in Israel, but this is the first to bear an inscription.

Most of the findings from the excavation date from the Byzantine period and earlier to the Second Temple period, well over 1,500 years ago. As a result, according to the IAA, when the archaeologists stumbled upon the more recent colorful object during this summer's dig, they were surprised.

The bowl was subsequently dated to 1520-1570, and originated in the Ming Dynasty, the IAA said.

The 16th century saw close trade relations between the Chinese Empire and the Ottoman Empire which ruled the Holy Land at the time explaining how a dish from China ended up in Jerusalem. During that period, there were colonies of Chinese merchants in Beirut and Tripoli who likely had trade interests in Jerusalem, Cairo and Aleppo.

“In archaeological research, evidence of trade relations between merchants in the Land of Israel and the Far East is known even from earlier periods – for example, of various spices,” said Israel Antiquities Authority Director Eli Escusido. “But it is fascinating to meet evidence of these relations also in the form of an actual inscription, written in the Chinese language, and in an unexpected place – on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.”

The multi-year dig underway at the site is being carried out together with the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology.

More than 600 people turned out in Jerusalem to honor 12 immigrants from English-speaking countries who were recipients of the 2023 and 2024 Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize acknowledging their outstanding contributions to Israeli society.

Among the honorees were veteran immigrants who arrived in the early years of the state, several mid-career professionals and a number of younger olim who are making their mark in the world of pro-Israel activism. 

Foreign Ministry Special Envoy Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, who hosts "The Quad" on JNS-TV, received the 2024 award for Israel advocacy. 

The Young Leadership Prize was awarded to Emily Schrader, news anchor at ILTV News and a frequent guest on JNS-TV. 

Canadian-Israeli philanthropist Sylvan Adams, a major supporter of Nefesh B’Nefesh who has sponsored the Bonei Zion Prize since its inception in 2014, told JNS prior to the ceremony that he was particularly proud this year to honor “these magnificent people who have contributed so much."

He noted that "it's been a very hard year for us, so we could use a shot in the arm," adding, “It's good to have a beautiful ceremony like this and honor all of the beautiful investments that these worthy recipients have made in the country.”

Awards for 2023 were given for achievements in education to Sally Reidman, founder and president of the Reidman College of Complementary & Integrative Medicine; for science and medicine to Prof. Carmi Z. Margolis, founding dean of Ben-Gurion University Medical School for International Health; for culture, arts and sport to Peter Kurz, CEO of the Israel Baseball Association and general manager of national and Olympic teams; for global impact to Lt. Col.(Res.) Danny Grossman, chairman of CMBM-Israel; for community and non-profit to Shari Mendes, founder and director of the Israel Lemonade Fund; and to Hassan-Nahoum for Israel advocacy. 

The 2024 recipients include: Phyllis Heimowitz, co-founder of A Partner Left Behind-The Partners of Fallen IDF Soldiers, for community and non-profit; Eylon Levy, head of the Israeli Citizen Spokespersons' Office, for global impact; and Dr. Debra Gershov-West, director of the emergency department at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital, for contributions to  science and medicine.

In a video aired at the ceremony, Mendes, a former architect whose Lemonade Fund provides grants to needy cancer patients, said, “I cannot imagine not living here.”

A Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Dr. Yehezkel Caine, president of the Herzog Medical Center in Jerusalem and an Israeli Air Force veteran who immigrated from London in 1959. 

“It’s important to know what an oleh can achieve,” Caine emphasized in the video that recounted his own contributions to Israeli medicine.

Hassan-Nahoum told JNS, “I was inspired, honored and humbled to receive an award that has given recognition to so many wonderful olim. I feel privileged to be among them and see it as a call to action for the future and to what olim can continue to achieve.”

Natan Sharansky, former Prisoner of Zion, received a standing ovation as he accepted a special recognition award for his lifelong dedication to Israel and world Jewry.

Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer told the audience, “These olim, each of whom represents an inspiring life story, embody the spirit of Zionism and demonstrate that making aliyah is not just a personal act, but an immense contribution to the resilience and future of the State of Israel.

“After the atrocities committed against the Jewish people on Oct.7 and the multi-front war that followed, it is crucial that we take a moment to recognize and celebrate the incredible individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Israeli society. These immigrants, who have become an integral part of our nation, have helped shape our national success and strengthen our resilience.”

Sylvan Adams, who made aliyah nine years ago, expressed his concern for North American Jewry in the current post Oct.7, 2023 climate.

“Hamas made a mistake,” he related to JNS. “Those barbarians thought that they would crush us on Oct.7, but the opposite happened. They reunited us. Not only Israelis, but they’ve also reunited us with the Diaspora communities and particularly with the United States.”

 “Jewish pride is back and part of that is the understanding that Israel is crucial to the future of the Jewish people, and I think we're seeing a bigger flow of olim as a result,” Adams said.

According to Nefesh B’Nefesh, 4063 olim have arrived and more than 17,000 Jews from North America have requested information about opening a file to apply for aliyah. 

Founded in 2002 to facilitate and encourage North American aliyah, Nefesh B’Nefesh now has four main missions: aliyah, national service, national development and Zionist education.

Adams expressed his belief that among North American Jews, “Judaism is only one of a number of identities. For me, my Zionism and my Judaism were up there, number one and two. The best way to express Zionism is with your feet, so I didn't just talk the talk, I walked the walk."

Similar sentiments were expressed to JNS at the event by Barbara Goldstein, veteran immigrant and longtime deputy executive director of the Israel office of Hadassah, Women’s Zionist Organization of America in Israel.

“Aliyah is going to happen big time. They're really going to come now. Unfortunately, that's the way, but OK,” she said, referring to the rise in antisemitism since Oct.7, 2023.

Goldstein has been a member of the selection committee for the Bonei Zion Awards since 2014. 

“There are so many wonderful people who are nominated,” Goldstein told JNS. “It’s very hard to choose. This was a beautiful night.” 

Israel Prison Service (IPS) Chief Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi was detained Monday, along with two senior police officers, as part of a probe into alleged corruption, the Department of Internal Police Investigations said.

While most details of the case are under a court-imposed gag order, local media reported that at least some of the accusations pertain to the alleged passing of confidential files to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose office oversees both the prisons and the police.

Yaakobi, who has led the IPS since being appointed interim chief by Ben-Gvir in January, was taken into custody by undercover agents while on his way to work, leading one of his bodyguards to draw his weapon out of fear of an attack. The IPS chief has been under 24/7 protection due to death threats from criminal groups and terrorists.

One of the Israel Police officers arrested as part of the probe was named on Tuesday as Judea and Samaria District Cmdr. Avishay Mualem. The second officer detained on Monday, who was said to hold the rank of superintendent, remained unnamed as of Tuesday afternoon.

Yaakobi was released on Monday night following more than 12 hours of questioning. As part of the terms of his release, Yaakobi was reportedly banned from contacting the other suspects, among other restrictions.

Following Yaakobi's arrest, Ben-Gvir denounced what he described as a "political decision" by Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

"This is a coup d'etat," the Otzma Yehudit Party leader stated at a press conference, slamming the arrests as "an attempt to bring me down, me, the government and the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu]."

Ben-Gvir again called on Netanyahu and Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene an investigative panel to advance the dismissal of Baharav-Miara, who has repeatedly clashed with the government.

In Israel, the attorney general does not work for the prime minister, as opposed to in the United States, where the A.G. is part of the executive branch. 

Over the summer, Baharav-Miara reportedly requested permission to probe Ben-Gvir over allegations of “incitement” against Palestinians.

Last month, local media reported that Baharav-Miara was expected to demand that Netanyahu fire Ben-Gvir over accusations of power abuse.

Baharav-Miara and other officials in the Attorney General's Office claim that Ben-Gvir is breaking Israeli law and exceeding his powers as police minister by meddling in law enforcement and delivering direct orders to officers, which would also violate court injunctions banning him from doing so, in particular when it comes to anti-government protests.

The premier reportedly told ministers that he would not dismiss Ben-Gvir, saying that the demand paves the way for a "constitutional crisis."

Netanyahu tasked Levin in early November with finding a solution to what he said was the opposition of Baharav-Miara to his government.

Last month, four Israel Defense Forces servicemembers and a former military spokesman for Netanyahu were detained as part of a separate police investigation into the alleged leaking by the Prime Minister's Office of files concerning the 101 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Eli Feldstein, a former spokesman for military affairs in the PMO, is suspected of leaking documents obtained by the IDF that indicate the terrorist organization is not interested in a ceasefire deal and is only using truce talks to increase domestic pressure on the government.

Netanyahu in a statement on Nov. 12 accused Israeli law enforcement of detaining employees of his office "in basements" without access to lawyers, in an attempt to extract false statements against him.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Beirut on Tuesday that should the Nov. 27 ceasefire collapse, Jerusalem's response would potentially go beyond just targeting Hezbollah.

Speaking during a visit to Israel's northern border, Katz said that Israel would "work with all our might" to enforce the terms of the truce, vowing "maximum response and zero tolerance" with regard to violations, according to Reuters.

“Yesterday was the first test, [Hezbollah] shooting at Mount Dov," he said, adding, "We reacted strongly and this is exactly what we will do."

The Israeli Air Force struck Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Monday night in response to the Iranian proxy’s firing of two mortar shells across the border hours earlier, in violation of the Nov. 27 ceasefire.

"We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the old methods they had, such as the tent that was set up [by Hezbollah on the border several years ago] and not attacked,” Katz continued.

He called on the Lebanese government to ensure that the Lebanese Armed Forces fulfilled Beirut's obligation under the truce to keep Hezbollah forces north of the Litani River and dismantle the Iranian proxy force's infrastructure.

Should it fail to do so, he continued, the agreement will collapse and "then the reality will be very clear."

If the deal collapses, "The most important thing they need to know is that there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” he emphasized.

“If until now we have distinguished between the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah, and between Beirut as a whole and [its southern suburb, the Hezbollah stronghold of] Dahiyeh, which we have struck very hard, this will no longer be [the case],” he said.

Still crazy after all these years.

The Israel Defense Forces carried out a drone strike on an armed terrorist cell near the village of Aqaba in the Jordan Valley on Tuesday, resulting in two fatalities, according to Palestinian reports.

Members of the cell were en route to carry out an attack, according to Israel's Channel 12 News.

The Palestinian Authority's official WAFA news outlet reported that Israeli forces stormed a nearby hospital following the drone strike and prevented ambulances from reaching the terrorists.

Aqaba is located near Jenin in northern Samaria, an area currently experiencing heightened terrorist activity.

The Israeli military carried out a drone strike against a Palestinian terrorist cell near Jenin on Sunday morning, killing a Hamas operative responsible for a deadly shooting in the Jordan Valley last summer.

Three other terrorists were eliminated in the attack, who according to the IDF had carried out several shootings against Israeli communities in the Gilboa area.

In a joint statement on Nov. 27, the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed that Israeli security forces had recently thwarted an attempt by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to smuggle heavy weaponry to Palestinian terrorist cells in Jenin.

On Nov. 24, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian terrorists in the town of Ya’bad, 12 miles west of Jenin in northern Samaria, according to WAFA.

In the first six months of 2024, Judea and Samaria saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to data made public by Hatzalah Judea and Samaria (Rescuers Without Borders).

During that period, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of stoning, 456 fire bombings, 299 incidents involving explosives and 109 shootings.

Terrorists murdered 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in Judea and Samaria between January and July, the rescue group said.