The short round of fighting in the Gaza Strip has ended and the Israeli security establishment estimates that the next point of confrontation with Hamas will probably be before the flag march in Jerusalem at the end of the month.
Currently, the government is sticking to the march route inside the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israeli deterrence did not recover following this round of fighting in the Gaza Strip and the terrorist organizations further strengthened their deterrence equation against Israel, Hamas supported the position of Islamic Jihad and Israel feared that the escalation would lead to rocket attacks on it from southern Lebanon or Syria as was the case during the month of Ramadan.
The erosion of Israel’s deterrent power is increasing and the terrorist organizations are working to increase their terrorist attacks in the territories of Judea and Samaria, they are not currently interested in a new military battle in the Gaza Strip and are working to ignite the West Bank territories to bring about an armed intifada outbreak against Israel.
Therefore, the Israeli security establishment is currently examining the possibility of launching a major military operation in the Samaria area against the Palestinian terrorist groups that have emerged in this area since the end of the IDF’s major military operation in the Gaza Strip in May 2021 (“Guardian of the Walls”).
Discussions on this issue in the defense system are progressing, but Defense Minister Yoav Galant is undecided and has not yet formulated his final position on the issue.
The Palestinian Authority lost security control in this area and several armed terrorist groups arose there, led by the Jenin Battalion and the Lion’s Den in the city of Nablus. According to security sources, there are about 1,000 terrorists in this area armed with thousands of weapons and large amounts of ammunition, who are engaged in terrorist activities against IDF soldiers and settlers.
The IDF’s large arrest operation is not enough to stop the terrorist attacks, it was only partially successful, the US demands that Israel strengthen the PA and it will have to give the green light to such an operation because the terrorist groups may also set up new strongholds for themselves in other parts of Judea and Samaria .
Israel must take the initiative and attack the armed terrorist groups in Judea and Samaria, terrorism must not be contained.
The security situation is deteriorating in northern Samaria and it is the armed terrorist groups that determine the security agenda, the IDF must pursue them and put them on the run, the central cities of the West Bank such as Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm must not become sanctuary cities for terrorists.
The time has come for the government to take a tougher hand against terrorism in the northern West Bank and no longer follow the path that was taken by the Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid governments.
The armed terrorist groups in northern Samaria began to emerge in the area about a year and a half ago, they became stronger and established themselves and the Bennett and Lapid governments decided to deal with them through a daily arrest operation due to American pressure.
What should have been done and is still required is to uproot the terrorist infrastructure, that is to temporarily occupy the Nablus and Jenin areas, kill the terrorists and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.
Every day that passes without the IDF launching such an operation, the terrorist groups grow even stronger, new young people join them and they spread to other areas.
The security establishment has dozens of warnings about intentions to carry out attacks in Judea and Samaria and within Israel itself, Hamas and Islamic Jihad invest a lot of money in recruiting young people from East Jerusalem and the West Bank to carry out attacks and Iran is engaged in smuggling thousands of weapons, through Jordan, for the terrorist groups in the West Bank, the arrest of the Jordanian MP Imad Al-Adawan who tried to smuggle 200 weapons in his car at the Allenby crossing for the terrorist groups is a good example of this.
The Israeli government has the full legitimacy to fight terrorism despite the internal debates and the wave of protests on the issue of judicial reform, the Shin Bet supports the offensive approach against terrorism and the IDF must also adopt this position, as well as the political echelon must re-adopt the policy of targeted assassinations of leaders of the terror organizations in Gaza strip the West Bank and abroad, Israel must strike in advance and surprise its enemies, only in this way will it be able to restore deterrence.
The successful assassination operation of the Hamas terrorist squad in the city of Nablus, who murdered the Dee family in the Jordan Valley, by the IDF and the Shin Bet is an excellent example of the IDF’s capabilities to fight terrorism, these methods should be adopted in a large-scale military operation throughout Northern Samaria as soon as possible.
