‘Entering strongholds of terrorism,’ Netanyahu says in Tulkarem

Netanyahu on Thursday ordered the military to conduct a ‘massive’ counter-terrorism operation in Judea and Samaria following the failed bus bombings in Tel Aviv.

By JNS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to the Tulkarem refugee camp in Samaria on Friday—hours after explosions on several buses in the Tel Aviv area that are being investigated as a coordinated terror attack—that Israeli troops “are doing a tremendous job.”

“In the past year, we have greatly increased our activity. We are entering the strongholds of terrorism, leveling entire streets used by terrorists and their homes, as well as eliminating terrorists and commanders,” Netanyahu said, per an English translation his office provided.

“We are taking extremely important measures against Hamas and other terrorist entities who are attempting to harm us.”

The Israeli premier called the events of Thursday night “an attempt to perpetrate a series of terrorist attacks with mass casualties” that “is a very severe situation.”

In response, he said, Israel is launching “additional operations against hotbeds of terrorism.”

“I know that our heroic soldiers know how to do this job well,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu on Thursday ordered the military to conduct a “massive” counter-terrorism operation in Judea and Samaria and instructed the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Police to step up “preventive activities” against possible additional attacks across the country.

Following a situational assessment on Thursday, the IDF said its operations in Judea and Samaria were ongoing and announced the deployment of three additional battalions to reinforce security in the territories.

All of the explosions on Thursday occurred in parked, empty buses across the central cities of Bat Yam and Holon, located south of Tel Aviv. There were no injuries in the attack.

At least one of the bombs bore a note, in Arabic and Hebrew, that stated, “Revenge from the Tulkarem refugee camp,” Channel 12 News reported.

Five explosive devices, all with timers set to go off simultaneously, were found in what was intended to be a “strategic terrorist attack,” Channel 12 cited security sources as saying.

On Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz toured the Tulkarem camp, where he vowed to vanquish the terrorists. “We are at war with extremist Islamic terror and we will win—here, in Gaza and everywhere,” he said.

The IDF said on Friday that troops detained some 90 terror suspects in Judea and Samaria over the past week. The military has been conducting an offensive in Samaria, dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” since January 21.