IDF arrests 12 terror suspects in weekend counterterrorism raids

Operation Wave Breaker is expected to last at least until after Israel’s Independence Day.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

IDF soldiers and Israeli security forces continued intelligence-based counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria over the weekend, arresting 12 terror suspects.

During the last day of Passover and on Saturday, the Israeli forces operated to arrest suspects involved in terrorist acts, including in the villages of Qalandiya, al-Bira, and Tamra, and in the cities of Hebron and Jenin.

On Friday, during an IDF operation in the village of Arbuna near the city of Jenin, a suspect was arrested on suspicion of aiding his relative, the terrorist Raed Fathi Hazam, who carried out the shooting attack in Tel Aviv earlier this month and murdered three Israelis.

Reports say that the suspect is Hazam’s uncle.

A total of 12 wanted persons were arrested during the weekend. The suspects were taken for questioning by security forces.

Israel launched Operation Wave Breaker after it experienced four severe terror attacks in recent weeks.

In the latest attack, a terrorist from Jenin shot and killed three Israelis in the heart of Tel Aviv. Before that, a terrorist from Yabed shot and killed five people in the city of Bnei Brak. In the second attack, two Islamist terrorists shot and killed two Israelis in the city of Hadera. In Beersheba, a terrorist stabbed and murdered four Israelis. Jerusalem has been the scene of several attacks as well.

The country’s security establishment is bracing for further violence, especially toward the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan, and following the first anniversary of Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, which was launched by the IDF following a Hamas rocket attack on Jerusalem that began at the height of the Month of Ramadan.

Operation Wave Breaker is expected to last at least until after Israel’s Independence Day.