by Akiva Von Konigsveld
"We will not allow the arms of the Iranian octopus and radical Sunni Islam to endanger the lives of the [Israeli] residents and establish an eastern terrorist front against the State of Israel," said the Israeli defense minister.
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| An Israel Defense Forces military vehicle alongside a Palestinian ambulance in the Samaria city of Jenin, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images. |
Jerusalem’s ongoing counter-terror operation in the northern Samaria city of Jenin marks a change in Israel’s security strategy in the area, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.
Katz visited the military command post in the area of the IDF’s Menashe Territorial Brigade on Tuesday to monitor the progress of the operation.
“‘Operation Iron Wall’ in the Jenin refugee camp will be a shift in the IDF’s security doctrine in Judea and Samaria,” the defense minister stated in remarks published by his office on Wednesday morning.
“A high-intensity operation to eliminate terrorists and the camp’s terror infrastructure—without the resurgence of terror into the camp once the operation ends—is lesson number one from the method of repeated raids in the Gaza Strip,” the statement continued.
“We will not allow the arms of the Iranian octopus and radical Sunni Islam to endanger the lives of the [Israeli] residents and establish an eastern terrorist front against the State of Israel,” Katz added, vowing, “We will strike hard at the arms of the octopus until they are severed.”
On Tuesday night, an unnamed senior security force told the Channel 14 News broadcaster that the large-scale campaign against Iranian-backed terrorist groups in northern Samaria could take months.
“When it ends, the terror camps will cease to exist. What we did in Gaza, we will do to them as well; we will leave them in ruins,” the source said.
The Israel Defense Forces announced in a statement on Wednesday morning that it “attacked terrorist infrastructure from the air, hit multiple terrorists and destroyed explosive devices in Jenin.”
“Over the past 24 hours, the forces have hit more than ten terrorists. In addition, air strikes were carried out on terrorist infrastructure in the area and many explosive devices that terrorists had planted on roads were destroyed,” the IDF stated. “The forces continue the operation.”
According to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health, at least nine people were killed by Israeli security forces in Jenin throughout the day on Tuesday, and more than 40 were said to have been wounded.
The Ynet outlet reported that the Israel Defense Forces carried out a drone strike on a Jenin terror cell that was in the process of planting explosive devices.
“Operation Iron Wall” includes the IDF, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) officers and Border Police, according to an army statement on Tuesday.
Hebrew media reported that four IDF battalions were participating in the operation, amounting to several hundred ground troops.
The IDF entered Jenin immediately after P.A. police left the area, according to Arab reports. Earlier this week, it was reported that Ramallah struck a deal with the Iranian-backed Jenin Battalion terror coalition, ending a rare month-long P.A. operation in the city.
Israeli ground forces entered the city with the stated goal of preserving Jerusalem’s ability to swiftly act against terrorist groups in Jenin, known among Palestinians as the “Martyrs’ Capital” due to the significant number of suicide bombers that have emanated from the area.
The Israel Hayom daily reported that the counter-terror raid was first planned for December, but postponed at the request of the political echelon after the P.A. launched its Jenin operation.
“At the direction of the Security Cabinet, the IDF, Shin Bet and Israel Police today launched a large and significant military operation to eradicate terror in Jenin—’Iron Wall,'” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
“This is another step towards the goal we have set—strengthening security in Judea and Samaria. We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever its arms reach—in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria,” the PMO added.
In August, while serving as Jerusalem’s foreign minister, Katz called for “the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps are required” amid an uptick in terror attacks emanating from Jenin.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is working “to establish an eastern terrorist front” in Judea and Samaria, charged Katz, following its proxy model in Lebanon with Hezbollah and the Gaza Strip with Hamas, by “financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan.”
Akiva Von Konigsveld
Source: https://www.jns.org/katz-jenin-op-will-put-end-to-resurgence-of-iran-backed-terrorism/
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