IDF launches major new counterterror operation in Jenin as Netanyahu vows to fight ‘Iranian axis’ everywhere

The Israeli army and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of a large-scale counterterrorism operation in the city of Jenin located in Samaria on Tuesday.

“On the directive of the Security Cabinet, the IDF, the ISA and the Israel Police have today begun an extensive and significant military operation to defeat terrorism in Jenin – 'Iron Wall',” Netanyahu stated.

“This is an additional step in achieving the objective that we have set – bolstering security in Judea and Samaria,” the premier added.

“We are acting methodically and with determination against the Iranian axis wherever it reaches – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Judea and Samaria – and we are still active.”

The first Palestinian reports said large numbers of military vehicles had entered Jenin, and Israeli aircraft opened fire from the sky. According to the latest updates from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, two people were killed and some 25 were wounded in clashes so far.

Israeli media said the operation is expected to last for at least several days, and is carried out by IDF troops including special forces, as well as Border Police and Shin Bet forces.

Despite statistics showing a decrease in terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, Channel 12 News recently cited Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar warning the political echelon that the quiet could be treacherous.

“The significant decrease in the scope of attacks in Judea and Samaria is deceptive and does not reflect the scope of terrorism on the ground,” Bar told the cabinet some two weeks ago.

“We recognize a consistent trend of weapon upgrades since ‘Guardian of the Wall,’ a transition from Molotov cocktails to shooting and from shooting to bomb attacks” Bar warned.

“Israel should learn from Oct. 7 not to allow the strengthening of terrorist elements, and therefore a broad move that changes the situation must be made to collapse and eliminate the phenomenon of the battalions in Judea and Samaria and allow us freedom of action.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday also warned that, “The threat to the settlements, the towns and the settlers in Judea and Samaria and the border areas is getting worse.”

Speaking in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Katz noted that “Our enemies here and now recognize the possibility that this is the only arena that is open today – the only place where there are confrontations, shootings and terrorism against the State of Israel, and therefore the Iranian axis which has operated continues to operate to produce terrorism through financing, targeting and arming.”

Therefore, the defense minister said, he ordered the IDF to “act strongly to protect all settlements and residents.”

According to Channel 12, the operation has been planned for months and was started today due to the failure of the operation of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces to root out the terror in Jenin, and the ceasefires that were implemented in Gaza and Lebanon.

“In their view, the operation has already achieved its goal: they showed the Palestinian public and the entire world that they will no longer accept armed presence on such a scale,” an IDF official told Ynet News.

“This is also their way of signaling to the US and the European Union that they have armed force to control the Gaza Strip instead of Hamas, at least in the parts where Hamas has been beaten the most by the IDF.”

Despite reported agreements by leaders in the Jenin refugee camp and the PA, members of the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Jenin Brigade detonated two explosive devices on a vehicle belonging to the PA forces on Monday.

According to Israeli security sources, the PA killed 10 terrorists, including a senior officer, and arrested some 340 terrorist operatives in around a month and a half of fighting. They also found 290 explosive devices, no less than 23 car bombs and many drones.

The PA reportedly lost six of its fighters in the clashes.