BICOM

What happened: Overnight the IDF operated simultaneously in Balata refugee camp (in the Nablus area) and in Jenin.

• In Balata, three Palestinians were killed and nine wounded during an exchange of fire that lasted several hours.
• Palestinian sources identified the three dead as belonging to Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, including the Commander Fathi Rizk, 30; Abdullah Abu Hamdan, 24; and Muhammad Zaytoun, 32.
• During the counter-terror raid IDF troops also arrested three wanted men and confiscated weapons including three M-16 rifles, ammunition, military equipment and weapon parts.
• Based on intelligence from the Shin Bet, the IDF also exposed an explosives manufacturing site containing, according to the IDF, “dozens of kilograms of explosives designated for carrying out attacks. The manufacturing site was detonated by the forces.”
• In parallel in Jenin, the IDF arrested three men and also confiscated military equipment.
• The Palestinian Authority Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh described the operation as “a veritable massacre” adding, it is “the continuation of the full-scale war that is being waged against the Palestinian people. The ongoing aggression in Nablus is a war crime that must be ended. The Israeli government bears responsibility for this dangerous and ongoing escalation.”
• Yesterday there was a car ramming attack in the village of Huwara south of Nablus. An IDF soldier was wounded and taken to hospital in moderate condition. The driver of the car drove onto the sidewalk, accelerated, hit the soldier and fled the scene.  A second soldier opened fire, but apparently missed and the vehicle fled towards Nablus.

Context: These targeted IDF operations in Palestinian West Bank cities are once again carried out by IDF elite ground forces, as opposed to the air force strikes carried out in the Gaza Strip earlier this month.

• For the IDF this is reinforcing their intelligence and operational capabilities to act against terror targets deep in Palestinian built up areas. It also attests to their ability to act precisely against armed targets whilst avoiding collateral damage as much as possible.
• Prior to the car-ramming in Huwara, there had been two weeks of quiet in the West Bank, that also saw a decrease in planned attacks against Israelis.
• However the car-ramming in Huwara is the fourth terror attack in the village in the last two months.
• Ahead of the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting which was held in the Western Wall tunnels, Minister Ben Gvir visited the Temple Mount, for the second time this year.
• Whilst his visit was criticised as provocative by some, others noted the fact that he delayed his visit, and did not go up last week on Jerusalem Day.
• Meanwhile in the northern West Bank,  head of IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs signed an order allowing Israelis to re-enter the former settlement of Homesh.
• Homesh was one of four West Bank settlements evacuated in 2005 during the disengagement (removal of all the settlements from Gaza Strip).
• The military order follows the Knesset decision from two months ago that rescinded the application of the disengagement law in the West Bank.
• The move will add to tension between Israel and the US with the move criticised by US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller as “deeply troubling.”

Looking ahead: The IDF will continue its manhunt for the driver of the car-ramming attack in Huwara yesterday.

• Now that Fuchs has signed the order, Israeli civilians will be permitted to return to the demolished settlement and to stay there.
• However, the future of the site and specifically the yeshiva, remains unclear, as it was built on private Palestinian land and therefore still needs to be relocated.