Three IDF soldiers wounded by roadside bomb near Jenin

The IDF also struck a terror cell in Jenin, killing six terrorists and causing multiple injuries.

By Joshua Marks, JNS

Three Israeli soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously, during a counterterrorism operation in Qabatiya near Jenin in northern Samaria overnight Tuesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Their vehicle was hit by a roadside explosive device planted by Palestinian terrorists, the IDF said. All three were evacuated to hospital for treatment, and their families were notified.

Airstrike in Jenin

In a separate development, Israel carried out an airstrike in Jenin as part of ongoing counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria, according to the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the strike resulted in six fatalities and multiple injuries. Israeli authorities have not disclosed further details about the target or the operation’s outcome.

The strike follows an unprecedented counter-terror operation by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in Jenin in recent weeks.

These incidents reflect heightened tensions in Judea and Samaria as the IDF has intensified operations in the region, targeting terror hubs in Palestinian camps. Since the start of the war, around 800 terrorists have been killed, and over 6,000 arrested.

On Saturday evening, Israeli security forces arrested two Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who were on their way to carry out a shooting attack in the “immediate future.”

PIJ operatives Ahmad Zaqarna, 21, and Tariq Abu Zayd, 25, from Qabatiya, were arrested in Nablus (Shechem) with two loaded M-16 rifles, ammunition and military gear in their possession.

In the wake of the Jan. 6 terrorist shooting that killed three Israelis in the Arab village of Al-Funduq, just west of Nablus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that he had approved “a series of additional offensive and defensive actions in Judea and Samaria.”

The terrorists who carried out that attack, killing Rachel Cohen, 73, Aliza Rice, 70, and Israel Police Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein, 35, remain at large. Seven more people were wounded in the attack.

On Sunday, an Israeli woman was lightly injured by Palestinian rock-throwers near the village of Hares, located close to Ariel in Samaria.

The victim was evacuated to the hospital with minor facial injuries caused by flying shards of glass.

Several additional vehicles were damaged in the attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which launched a search for the assailants.