A shooting attack aimed at the Israeli community of Bat Hefer on Wednesday has led to concerns that terrorist groups are stepping up operations in the West Bank. These types of attacks have spread over the last year. They began with the Islamic Jihad in Jenin and also with other armed groups in Nablus, but they have now spread across the northern West Bank. A ramming attack killed two soldiers in the West Bank near Nablus on Thursday.
It’s important to see the elephant in the room here. The attacks on Bat Hefer are part of a growing number of terror incidents emanating from Tulkarm’s Nur Shams refugee camp. The IDF has carried out numerous raids in this area in the last year. However, the armed groups continue to operate in the region. It appears that Hamas and the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad have put down more roots in the West Bank.
West Bank terrorism heating up
The attacks in the West Bank are fueled by Iranian support as well as other types of outside support such as from Hamas in Gaza. Hamas and Iran have wanted to leverage October 7 to increase support for Hamas in the West Bank. The goal is to position Hamas in a way that will allow it to take over the West Bank when Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, is replaced or leaves office due to old age or other reasons. Hamas is now laying the groundwork.
Another way that Hamas and terrorist groups are preparing is through weapons trafficking. In the last year, despite the IDF’s Break the Wave operation and its campaign in Jenin called, “Home and Garden” last year, the number of illegal rifles in the West Bank has fueled terrorism.
These rifles can be spotted in videos of the perpetrators of such attacks or in photos featuring Palestinian gunmen who have been killed. They also appear at terrorists’ funerals. The weapons often include M-4 or M-16-styled rifles. These rifles are often adorned with modern hardware, such as new rifle sights and grips. Many of these grips and sights include the architecture of rifles that are clearly new, meaning that even if not all of these rifles were purchased recently, they are being upgraded by terrorist groups aided by newly smuggled systems.
In recent years, the number of illegal weapons found on terrorists in the West Bank or in IDF raids has increased. The types have increased as well, especially the M-4 and M-16 type rifles. These are rifles that have an origin in the West. They are not AK-47s.
The prominence of the rifles being smuggled into the West Bank illustrates that the terrorists have increased access to dangerous weapons. The rifles are so common that the new videos of the attacks from Tulkarm demonstrate that the young men carrying them could easily acquire them. This is a dangerous phenomenon and it reminds us of the complacency before October 7, when threats by Hamas were not taken seriously.
The IDF has increased its raids into the West Bank and it has been using new methods as well. However, the shooting attacks are a dangerous development. The attacks have also affected Israeli communities that are on the Israeli side of the fence near the northern West Bank.