Israeli security forces arrested a member of the Iranian-backed Lions’ Den terror coalition in the heart of Nablus (Shechem) in a joint counter-terror operation early on Sunday morning, the Israel Police announced.
The suspect was detained by undercover Border Police units, working in coordination with Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) officers, according to the police statement.
The terrorist was said to have been involved in past attacks, assisted in procuring weapons, and was actively planning future acts of terrorism.
The suspect attempted to evade arrest, police said. Undercover officers subsequently fired at his lower body, successfully hitting and arresting him. The suspect was transferred to the security forces for questioning.
During the operation, other terrorists opened fire and threw explosive devices. The troops returned fire; no Israeli casualties were reported.
On May 8, Israeli security forces also killed an operative of the Lions’ Den terrorist coalition and arrested a second operative during a counter-terrorism operation in the Nablus casbah.
The Nablus-based Lions’ Den was the focus of much of the IDF activity in Samaria before the Hamas-led terrorist massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
On April 8, the police’s elite intelligence-led Unit 33 (“Gideonim”) detained Mahmoud al-Bana, a top commander in the Lions’ Den.
Al-Bana, who was carrying an M16 rifle and a grenade, tried to evade arrest and was shot in the leg by police, according to security officials.
The military launched “Operation Iron Wall” on Jan. 21 to neutralize the threat posed by terrorist hotbeds such as Nablus. The ongoing counter-terror operations mark a change in Jerusalem’s security strategy in Samaria, Defense Minister Israel Katz has said.
IDF soldiers will remain in Palestinian areas throughout Samaria after the completion of “Operation Iron Wall” to ensure that the situation “will not return to what it was,” Katz stressed at the time.
The IDF 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 a coordinated terrorist attack. At least one of the bombs reportedly bore a note, in Arabic and Hebrew, which stated: “Revenge from the Tulkarem refugee camp.”
Jerusalem is aware that a “more intense front” could open in Judea and Samaria amid the expansion of fighting with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on March 19.