A new wave of terrorism has surged in Israel—seeing 11 people murdered in recent days—and it could have been even worse if not for an Israeli counterterrorism effort over the weekend. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Saturday night that security forces “foiled a ticking bomb” earlier that day, referencing a counterterrorism raid turned gunbattle with Islamic Jihad operatives in Judea and Samaria (also known as the West Bank).
According to the Times of Israel, three terrorists in a vehicle en route to an attack were killed in the raid, while four members of the Israeli security forces were injured, one severely. The terrorists opened fire when the Israeli forces attempted to arrest them. The article said Israel found guns and grenades in the terrorists’ vehicle.
On Sunday, Bennett confirmed that the operation “thwarted a terrorist attack, on its way to being carried out.” In the same press release, published by the Prime Minister’s Office, Israeli Security Agency (ISA) Director Ronen Bar said the planned terrorist attack was “significant.”
In his comments, Bennett noted that “like this attack, the terrorists have all kinds of ideas; therefore, we are on highest alert, both the ISA and the Israel Police, in order to identify any fragment of an idea or planning for an attack and to thwart it in time.”
While the counterterror operation was successful, Bennett underscored that the broader mission is far from over. “This is not an effort of a single operation but of hundreds of continuous operations, said Bennett. “Together we will make the effort to break this wave.”
That “wave” of terrorism is not believed to be finished, according to Bennett. In his remarks on Saturday night, the Israeli Prime Minister said they are “certainly assuming that there will be many more attempts.”
The key to saving innocent lives is to stop the terrorists before they can launch their attacks, as occurred in the pre-dawn raid on Saturday. To achieve that, Israel is stepping up their security deployment.
“The goal is to stop the terrorists wherever they are, preferably in the planning stages then in the implementation stages or at the actual site. Therefore, we are taking care that in tandem with our initiated actions in the field, there will be more forces deployed around the country in order to stop this wave at the outset,” said Bennett.
Surges in terror attacks are tragically nothing new in Israel. Palestinian terrorists and Israeli Arabs inspired by jihadist groups such as ISIS have been murdering Israeli civilians for decades. In spite of that threat, Israel has thrived—a point Bennett made loud and clear.
“Terrorism is nothing new. This time it is Hamas, then it is Islamic Jihad and then ISIS is involved. Terrorism and violence will not uproot us from here. On the contrary, it unites us and weakens them, and causes us to deepen our hold here in our country and defend our state with full force, together,” said Bennett in his remarks, published by his office on Saturday night.
“We will get through this difficult period as well. We have the best security forces in the world.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, April 3, 2022)