‘The whole chain of villages has heated up’: Israel ends major counterterror raid in northern Samaria

Soldiers confiscated five M-16s, several ‘Carlo’ type guns, and other weapons and ammunition found.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A 12-hour counterterror operation in two Palestinian villages and a refugee camp in northern Samaria ended late Wednesday afternoon with the Israel Defense Forces confirming five terrorists were killed.

Raids took place in the villages of Tubas and Tamun, and the Far’a refugee camp.

“We’ve been active in the area for a few years, but we’ve seen a definite uptick in activity since the start of the war,” an IDF commander active in the area explained to The Press Service of Israel.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

“The whole chain of villages and towns from Nablus to Jenin, and towards Tubas has heated up. This is happening even in the very small towns and villages in the area,” he explained to TPS-IL.

Asked if Hamas or Fatah are behind the attacks, he told TPS-IL that “everything is mixed and chaotic.”

He added, “Since the start of the war we’ve had to enter villages that we haven’t had to go into for a long time, because up until recently they’d been relatively quiet. But not any more.”

He continued, “The minute the IDF takes its foot off the gas, we will see a significant increase in terrorist attacks coming from that area.”

Four terrorists were killed in airstrikes and another wanted fugitive was killed in an exchange of fire.

Soldiers confiscated five M-16s, several ‘Carlo’ type guns, and other weapons and ammunition found.

Three other terrorists were arrested.

During the operation, four soldiers were injured when their vehicle ran over a bomb. The four were evacuated for treatment, two with moderate injuries and two with light injuries.

The two towns are in the northern Jordan Valley, not far from the location of a deadly drive-by shooting on Sunday at the Mehola Junction.

Yehonatan Deutsch, a 23-year-old resident of Beit Shean was killed. Anas Jaramana, a 32-year-old resident of the Israeli-Arab town of Muqeible was moderately injured.

The gunman fled in the direction of the Tubas.

Israeli security forces have arrested more than 4,400 Palestinian terror suspects in Judea and Samaria since October 7, of whom around 1,850 are affiliated with Hamas.