IDF bringing Gaza war tactics to Judea and Samaria, says defense chief

Israeli military reports more than 10 Palestinian terrorists killed in ongoing counterterror operation in Jenin, including aerial strikes and joint ground operation applying tactics used in Gaza war.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli forces conducting a joint counter-terror operation in the northern Samaria city of Jenin have killed more than 10 terrorists since the operation was launched yesterday, an IDF spokesman announced Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced the launch of Operation Iron Wall, a joint effort of the IDF, Israel Police, and Shin Bet internal security agency to dismantle terror cells operating out of the Palestinian Authority-administered city of Jenin.

For years, rogue terror groups, working together under the umbrella organization dubbed the Jenin Brigades, have dominated the city, with the Palestinian Authority’s paramilitary security force operating in Jenin only intermittently.

Following attacks by the Jenin Brigades on PA forces late last year, the Palestinian National Security Forces launched its largest operation in Jenin in years in an effort to reassert Palestinian Authority control over the city.

Several days ago, however, PNSF officers withdrew from Jenin prior to the launch of the Israeli operation.

By Tuesday afternoon, Palestinian health services had reported that six terrorists were killed, with 35 more people reported wounded in clashes between Jenin terrorists and Israeli forces.

On Wednesday morning, the IDF said that over 10 terrorists had been eliminated but provided no details on the number of wounded.

“Security forces attacked terror infrastructure, targeted several terrorists, and neutralized explosives in Jenin,” the IDF said.

“Over the past 24 hours, the forces have neutralized more than ten terrorists. Additionally, aerial strikes were carried out against terror infrastructure in the area, and numerous explosives planted by terrorists along routes were destroyed.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud) said the operation marked a “shift in the IDF’s security approach to Judea and Samaria.”

The operation, he continued is aimed at “eliminating terrorists and terror infrastructure” in Jenin’s refugee camp, “ensuring that terrorism does not resurface in the camp after the operation ends” and that it “serves as a key lesson learned from the repeated raid strategy in Gaza.”