Israeli forces on Tuesday arrested a terrorist cell in Jenin, in northern Samaria, that intended to carry out an attack “in an immediate time frame.”
Five terrorists were detained during the operation carried out by the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Border Police, according to a statement from the IDF.
The IDF’s Duvdevan undercover counterterror unit, a paratrooper patrol and a Shin Bet-directed military unit conducted the morning arrests, seizing ammunition and military equipment.
לוחמי צה"ל, שב"כ ומג"ב עצרו בג'נין חוליית מחבלים שתכננה לבצע פיגוע בטווח זמן מיידי; הכוחות פעלו הלילה למעצר שבעה מבוקשים ברחבי יהודה ושומרון.
לוחמי דובדבן, סיירת צנחנים וימ"ס בהכוונת שב"כ, עצרו הבוקר חמישה מבוקשים והחרימו תחמושת וציוד צבאי בעיר ג'נין שבמרחב חטיבת מנשה >> pic.twitter.com/vAk3MKut3a
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 11, 2023
During the raid in Jenin, gunmen fired at the Israeli forces and threw an explosive device at them. The soldiers returned fire and hits were detected.
Two other wanted suspects were arrested overnight in counterterrorism operations elsewhere in Judea and Samaria.
In A-Ram, adjacent to Ramallah, Israeli forces arrested a wanted man. During the raid, rioters burned tires and threw stones at the soldiers, who responded with crowd disbursement measures. Another suspect was arrested in the village of Abu Najim, where Molotov cocktails and stones were thrown at soldiers, who employed crowd disbursement methods.
The wanted men were transferred for questioning.
No injuries to Israeli forces were reported.
The prevention of the imminent terrorist attack comes after a shooting on April 7 that killed two sisters in the Jordan Valley; their mother later succumbed to her wounds. A car-ramming attack the same day in Tel Aviv killed a tourist visiting from Italy and wounded several others.