The IDF and Shin Bet have solved a series of shooting attacks in the West Bank, and arrested several Palestinians belonging to a cell directed by Hamas.
In one attack on September 9th, an Israeli man was lightly injured after shots were fired at his vehicle as he drove near the Palestinian village of Einabus near the town of Huwara near Nablus in the northern West Bank.
According to the Shin Bet internal security agency, the cell opened fire at two Israeli vehicles firing some 11 9mm bullets from a passing car.
“The investigation of the suspects is still underway, but from all the information we have, a Hamas military squad, directed by Hamas operatives from the Gaza Strip, is responsible for carrying out the attack,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.
“The investigation of the suspects is still underway, but from all the information we have, a Hamas military squad, directed by Hamas operatives from the Gaza Strip, is responsible for carrying out the attack,”
Shin Bet statement
The agency also confiscated the weapons used in the attacks along with ammunition. “The Shin Bet along with the IDF and Israel Police will continue to work to thwart Hamas’ attempts to promote terror activity against Israel and will make them pay a price for their [terror] infrastructure,” the statement added.
Security forces also arrested a Palestinian teenager who carried out a shooting attack against the settlement of Carmel in the south Hebron hills on September 15. An Israeli teenager studying at a Yeshiva in the settlement was moderately wounded in the attack.
According to the IDF, security forces located the M-16 used in the attack the day after the day. The teenager, from the town of az-Zubaidat, was arrested last Saturday near the Palestinian village of Um Daraj, two days after the attack.
During the investigation, the teenager admitted that he carried out the attack. The attack comes during a rise of shooting attacks against the IDF and Israeli civilians in the West Bank as the IDF intensifies its arrest raids against Palestinians suspected of terrorism as part of Operation Break the Wave.
According to data released by the Shin Bet, there were at least 23 shooting attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem in August-an increase from 15 in July. At least 15 Israelis were injured during the attacks in August, both civilians and troops.
An alarming increase in shooting attacks
Due to the rise in shooting attacks in the northern West Bank by Palestinian gunmen, an extra battalion of Golani forces has been deployed to the area. Additional battalions will be sent to other parts of the West Bank during the holidays to prevent attacks.
Though the defense establishment does not believe that the high number of attacks can be described as an Intifada, security forces including the IDF, Police and Shin Bet internal security agency have increased their level of alertness due to the high threat level.
There have been close to 10 attacks this past week, with at least two shooting attacks in the northern West Bank early Thursday morning toward the settlement of Har Bracha. Another shooting attack against the settlement took place early Friday morning, damaging a home in the settlement.