TRUMP SHOULD COME UP WITH A PLAN TO REMOVE THE PALESTINIANS FROM THE WEST BANK

What led to IDF op in Jenin—and why it won’t be the last

The city is a magnet for weapons, Iranian and Hamas-fueled terrorism, and gunmen who are increasingly using deadly IEDs 

 

By Yaakov Lappin

 

JNS

Jan 27, 2025

 

 

Israeli special forces operate in Jenin, 

 

The Israel Defense Forces last week launched a significant counter-terrorism operation in Jenin, Samaria. Dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” its aim is to dismantle the area’s growing terror infrastructure. 

According to IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, the situation in Jenin has become critical over the past 15 months, contributing significantly to the ongoing wave of deadly violence  in Judea and Samaria and across Israel. During a briefing with journalists on Jan. 22, Shoshani reported that over 2,000 terror attacks and attempted attacks had been launched from Judea and Samaria since the Oct. 7, 2023 war began, resulting in 46 Israeli and foreign national casualties and over 1,200 injuries. Several high-profile attacks were linked to Jenin.

Lt. Col. (res.) Shaul Bartal, a senior research fellow at the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, who served extensively in various security capacities in Judea and Samaria, told JNS on Friday that the Jenin operation “is yet another example of a ‘mowing the grass’ operation.”

 

Israeli troops during counterterror activities in the Jenin

 

 

Israel, he noted, has carried out numerous operations in the Jenin sector in the past. The most memorable include “Operation Defensive Shield” in 2002—during which IDF soldiers were accused of a fictional massacre many Palestinian texts still refer to—and “Operation Home and Garden” a year later. Both of these campaigns followed a similar pattern, said Bartal: “A war against the Jenin Battalion, targeting infrastructure and terrorists.”

In August 2024 there was “Operation Summer Camps,” which involved Jenin, Qabatiya and other locales in Judea and Samaria.

None of these offered any real solution. Jenin, he noted, has a “bloody history as the terrorism capital of Samaria, a title it has apparently held since the British Mandate period.”

The Jenin Battalion, currently operating in the city’s refugee camp, unites elements from all “resistance” factions but is led primarily by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, according to Bartal.   

The P.A.’s recent attempt to rein in terrorism in the city was “mainly for show” and may even have been counterproductive, he added. Following the operations “there were numerous calls within the P.A. labeling it a ‘collaborators’ authority,'” he noted. 

One of the main issues, he told JNS, was that “the area from Jenin to Nablus and nearly to Tulkarem constitutes a large military zone with very sparse Israeli presence,” he explained. “Within Jenin’s separation barrier, there are two [Israeli] settlements—Mevo Dotan and Hermesh—that are relatively close but not very, and [which] are quite isolated. Ganim and Kadim were demolished and evacuated during the [2005 Gaza] Disengagement, along with Sa-Nur and Homesh. Similarly, military bases in the area were vacated,” he continued.

Because of this, IDF presence in the area since has primarily been on the fringes, allowing terror infrastructure to fester and grow, which in turn requires periodic large-scale incursions, he said.

The camps in Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem now feature prominent terrorist infrastructure “that cannot be eradicated with a few days of raids,” he said, adding, “In a way, this resembles how Israel tried to deal with Hamas in Gaza.”

As the Oct. 7, 2023 attack proved, however, “Military raids, however efficient, cannot prevent terrorism over time. From a military perspective, the most effective way to combat terrorism is through continuous and sustained military control of the territory—but that’s a matter of policy,” he said.

The P.A., he continued, cannot control these terror hotspots.

“The P.A. manages to operate effectively in areas like Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho,” he said. “In Hebron, complex relationships with dominant clans—like the Kawasme clan, which is associated with Hamas—help maintain calm. The P.A. has intricate ties with them.”

But outside of these regions, the P.A. cannot maintain control, he said.

According to IDF Col. (res.) Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, the current operation is no different from the previously mentioned ones, despite some officials’ claims to the contrary. 

“A raid lasting several days aimed at damaging terrorist infrastructure in the city and especially in the refugee camp, but immediately afterward an exit, which ensures there will be repeats,” said Milshtein, who previously headed IDF Military Intelligence’s Department for Palestinian Affairs.

With regard to the timing of the current operation, Milshtein told JNS that it was mostly due to the failure of the P.A.’s own five-week operation.

“In this situation, given the numerous alerts and threats in the area, there is no choice but to act in place of the Palestinians. Regarding the achievement, it is clear there is damage to the terrorist infrastructure, but it is also clear that this is not a deep-rooted blow that truly eradicates them,” he said.

Furthermore, he argued, Israel’s release of multiple terrorists to Judea and Samaria as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas will strengthen the city’s terror infrastructure further, “meaning that another operation is only a matter of time.”

A look at recent events reveals how central Jenin has become as a terrorist hub. 

On Jan. 18, a Palestinian terrorist from Tulkarem entered Israel illegally and conducted a stabbing in south Tel Aviv, wounding three people. 

On Jan. 14, two IDF soldiers were seriously wounded by an explosive device terrorists set off near Jenin.

On Dec. 27, 2024, a Palestinian terrorist from Jenin murdered Ludmila Lipovsky, an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor, in Herzliya.

On Nov. 5, 2024, two members of the Israeli security forces were wounded during combat in Jenin, and in September, two Israeli security personnel were shot and wounded in separate security operations in the city. 

In August 2024, the IDF launched a major security operation in Jenin and Tulkarem, together with the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Border Police.  

On Aug. 31, 2024, an IDF soldier, St. Sgt. Elkana Navon, was killed and four were injured during gun battles in Jenin.

On Aug. 5, 2024, an Israeli soldier was wounded in a combined IED and shooting attack.

Since October 2023, Israeli security forces have killed an estimated 800 terrorists in Judea and Samaria.

During his comments on Jan. 22, IDF spokesperson Shoshani emphasized that the threat is not limited to organized terror cells but also extends to “lone-wolf” attackers, who have been incited by jihadist terror factions led by Hamas and Iranian-backed elements. Hamas is trying to incite terror cells in Judea and Samaria to carry out attacks, he said, adding that Iran has been a key actor in smuggling weapons and explosives into the area. 

One of the most dangerous elements of the terror infrastructure in Jenin is the widespread use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to Shoshani. Terrorist forces place large explosive devices under roads and civilian infrastructure in the city. A recent IED attack killed IDF reservist Sgt. First Class (res.) Eviatar Ben Yehuda in Tammun, Samaria, and wounded several others.

The IDF has documented instances of IEDs being placed near hospitals, schools and mosques, endangering civilians, said Shoshani, while terrorists have used ambulances to move around. 

Terrorists have systematically used mosques in the city as bases, storing weapons in them and firing at Israeli soldiers from them, he noted. Footage released by the IDF in December 2024 also showed a makeshift shooting range and training positions inside one of the mosques.

This pattern of using civilian infrastructure has become a hallmark of terror operations in Jenin as it has in other arenas, leading some observers to warn about a creeping process of “Gaza-ization” in the city.

Shoshani refuted rumors of an evacuation order for Jenin’s residents, but acknowledged temporary safety measures near hospitals and other sensitive sites during the controlled detonation of explosives.

For instance, terrorists had planted explosives outside a Jenin hospital, resulting in the IDF warning those in the facility to remain inside temporarily, he said. 

“They blatantly disregard international law, using the civilian infrastructure, including mosques, schools and hospitals. We’ve seen this in recent weeks,” he said.