‘Looming Disaster’: Hamas Releases Video of Operatives Shooting at Israeli Community From West Bank

Jack Elbaum

Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Hamas has begun releasing videos of its operatives opening fire from the West Bank into Israeli villages, raising fears the Palestinian terror group will eventually try to stage a significant attack in the territory.

On Wednesday, Hamas terrorists in the West Bank city of Tulkarm opened fire into the Israeli village of Bat Hefer, which is in Israel proper. They staged the attack from the top of a hill. This is not the first time it has occurred. Last month, terrorists in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades — the armed wing of Fatah, the political party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas — fired into the Israeli community as well.

Yoav Zitun, a military correspondent for Ynet News, reported that Hamas is paying people in the West Bank between 500 and 1000 shekels who take a video of themselves shooting into Israeli communities and distribute the footage.

Seth Frantzman, an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis, responded to the report on X/Twitter, writing it “reminds me of the Great Return March antics of Hamas that paved the way to Oct. 7.”

For the march, Hamas mobilized more than 40,000 people to try and breach the fence between Gaza and Israel to attack its citizens. Rioters lit fires, threw stones at the Israel Defense Forces, and attempted to plant a bomb on the fence and breach it. Hamas paid people between $200 and $500 if they were injured and $3,000 if they were killed.

Terrorist attacks from the West Bank against Israeli targets have been on an upswing. Last month, terrorists shot from within the West Bank into the Israeli kibbutz Ma’ale Gilboa.

Beyond shooting attacks, a terrorist killed two Israeli soldiers in Nablus in a ramming attack this week.

The terror incidents in the West Bank began to increase more than a year ago, but they have continued to occur since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

Frantzman called the situation a “looming disaster.”

“The rising attacks in the West Bank using the masses of stolen weapons will eventually become more sophisticated and can lead to an Oct. 7-type event because Israel has ignored security in the West Bank as it did at the other borders and allowed terror groups to exponentially grow over the last years,” he wrote.

The concern has been made more acute by the fact that the Palestinian Authority, which controls the Palestinian areas of the West Bank, is increasingly weak. In certain cities, such as Jenin, terrorist groups have effectively made the PA police obsolete and now have a significant ability to operate.

This is compounded by the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to take punitive measures against the PA, which could make it more likely to collapse and create a vacuum for terrorists to assert greater control.

Precise US munitions, which reduce casualties, used in Rafah strike

JOSHUA MARKS

American officials have been urging Israel to increase use of the GBU-39 bombs in Gaza.

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The GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The precision weapon Israel used in Sunday night’s Rafah strike was designed and manufactured in the United States, according to investigations by CNN and The New York Times, the results of which were published on Wednesday.

Two senior Hamas terrorists responsible for Judea and Samaria terror operations were killed in the precision strike on a compound in Tal as-Sultan in northwest Rafah. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, dozens of noncombatants were killed and wounded.

Both news outlets analyzed video footage of munition debris from the scene of the attack, determining that the fragments belonged to a GBU-39 bomb, a 250-pound precision-guided glide bomb made by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, which carries around 37 pounds of AFX-757 high explosive.

According to the Times, U.S. officials have been urging Israel to increase use of the GBU-39 bombs in Gaza because they can reduce civilian casualties, being more precise and better adapted to urban environments than larger bombs such as the 2,000-pound bombs that Israel also uses but that President Joe Biden said earlier this month he was pausing delivery of to the Jewish state.

“The Israelis have said they used 37-pound bombs,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday. “If it is in fact what they used, it is certainly indicative of an effort to be discreet and targeted and precise.”

Kirby also said said the press briefing that the Biden administration has made no policy changes in the wake of Rafah strike, noting that the investigation into the incident was ongoing.

“As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to. It just happened,” Kirby told reporters. “The Israelis are going to investigate it. We’re going to be taking great interest in what they find in that investigation. And we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Israeli officials reportedly told the Biden administration that shrapnel may have ignited a fuel tank, starting a fire that engulfed tents housing displaced Gazans.

On Tuesday afternoon, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters that “our munition alone could not have ignited a fire this size. … We used the smallest munition that our jets can use.

“The fire that broke out was unexpected and unintended. This was a devastating incident that we did not expect. We’re investigating what caused this fire,” Hagari said, stressing that the strike targeted a “closed” terrorist structure almost a mile from the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.

“There may have been weapons in the area. Our signals intelligence intercepted phone calls reinforcing this possibility that weapons stored in a nearby compound caught fire,” said Hagari.

He assured reporters that the “investigation will be swift, comprehensive and transparent. Our war is against Hamas, not the people of Gaza. This is why we convey deep sorrow over this loss of life.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Releases New Propaganda Video of Israeli Hostage

Algemeiner Staff

Israeli hostage Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov as seen in a propaganda video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Photo: Screenshot

New Details on IDF Operation to Recover the Bodies of Hostages from Gaza

i24 News and Algemeiner Staff

Nisenbaum Michel (L), Hernandez Oryon (C), and Yablonka Chanan (R). Photo: courtesy.

New information has been released about the IDF operation to recover the bodies of hostages Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez on Thursday night in Jabaliya, Gaza.

The hostages, who were abducted during the October 7th Massacre from the Mefalsim intersection by Hamas terrorists, were located and retrieved in a meticulously planned mission.

The operation began with the 98th Division’s soldiers operating in Jabaliya, where the 75th Battalion eliminated a terrorist acting as a spotter near the location where the bodies were held.

Following this, the soldiers raided the area and discovered the hostages’ remains.

Special forces from the Yahalom Unit, the ISA, and a special unit from the Intelligence Directorate (J2) then executed a nighttime mission to recover the bodies. The intelligence that pinpointed the location of the hostages was gathered and analyzed over several days by the division’s intelligence array, the ISA, and the Abducted and Missing Persons Headquarters in the Intelligence Directorate (J2).

This operation is part of an extensive campaign managed above and below ground, spearheaded by the 98th Division in Jabaliya. The Hostage Task Force Headquarters in the Intelligence Directorate (J2), alongside the ISA and other IDF units, conducted a prolonged research effort to gather and analyze intelligence. This effort culminated in precise directions for the forces on the ground to locate and recover the hostages.

The commander of the 7th Brigade, reflecting on the operation, stated, “Thanks to the relentless efforts of the forces, we were able to bring back the bodies of three individuals to Israel. This is a great privilege for us.”

Israel at War – Day 228 – UPDATE 21.05.24

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