IDF launches humongous raid in Judea and Samaria

The Israeli Defense Forces launched an enormous strike on targets in Judea and Samaria, [aka West Bank] on Tuesday. They hit "Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructure" and said that Iran was trying to establish an "eastern front" against the Jewish State, according to CNN.

“We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps are required,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz tweeted on X. “This is a war for all terms and purposes and we must win it."

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a briefing that Israel had identified “a systematic strategy in Iran” of smuggling weapons and explosives into the West Bank.

“Specifically, about Jenin and Tulkarm, we’ve seen over 150 shooting and explosive attacks originated from these areas alone over the past year,” he said on Wednesday.

Early indications revealed a significant, coordinated Israeli operation involving drones, bulldozers, military and security forces, four battalions of the Israel Border Police, and an elite unit of undercover troops. Video obtained by CNN showed bulldozers tearing up a street in a developed area of Tulkarem and moving in a convoy through Jenin.

Additional footage released by the IDF showed what it said was a strike on a militant operations room in the refugee camp Nur Shams, near Tulkarem.

Arab deaths were reported in Tubas and Jenin, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). The Ministry of Health, an oxymoron, later confirmed that an Arab had been killed by gunfire in the town of Kafr Dan in the Jenin district, raising the death toll to 10, in a FAFO operation by IDF troops.

Hamas has issued a call for "general mobilization" after the recent strike. This seems somewhat ironic, given that every Hamas fighter capable of walking and shooting has already been engaged with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for months.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House has stated that it supports Israel’s right to defend itself. However, it has also emphasized that Israel must conduct its defense in a manner that minimizes civilian casualties and avoids damaging civilian infrastructure.
“It will reach a boiling point,” Ofer Shelah, a military analyst with the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, said of the broader situation. He said the IDF "are very worried about what's going on there."

The PRCS reported that the military had set up checkpoints to cordon off Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Al-Far’a refugee camp near Tubas. Israeli military vehicles surrounded the main hospitals in Jenin and Tulkarem, controlling access and checking the identities of those arriving by ambulance, according to the Red Crescent. The Israeli military stated that its actions were aimed at preventing militants from embedding themselves in hospitals and using them as combat zones, which is how they like to operate.

The military operation followed reports from Palestinian health officials that five Arabs were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Monday night in Nur Shams, near Tulkarem. Among those who died, one had been recently freed as part of a cease-fire agreement with Hamas in November, while another was reportedly engaged in making explosive devices, according to the Israeli military.
Attacking Arab terrorists in Jenin is not going to widen the war. And it sends a very strong signal to Iran to stop meddling in the fight against Hamas.

Biden hasn't given up trying to rein in Netanyahu, but he's realizing that the Israeli prime minister has an agenda that won't be fulfilled until the threat to Israel is extinguished.

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