Judea and Samaria as a powder keg: "We are heading into a tense period"; IDF reinforces troops and prepares for revenge attacks
Intelligence officials have long pointed to a "very tense situation," said a senior officer. According to him, the Chief of Staff decided to reduce forces in Lebanon and Gaza and transferred an additional force to Judea and Samaria even before the attack, and will now transfer additional battalions. "The outposts challenge the ability to hold the territory and create law and order," he clarified.
A senior officer in the Central Command said today (Saturday) that for a long time, intelligence officials and field commanders have been pointing to a "very tense situation" in their situational assessments. Despite the massive dismantling of terrorist infrastructure by the Central Command, the Shin Bet, and the Border Police, the threat of lone-wolf attackers and local cells looking for opportunities to harm Israeli citizens or soldiers looms in the background.
Just yesterday, hours before the deadly attack, the Judea and Samaria Division, commanded by Brigadier General Kobi Heller, summarized counter-terrorism operations focused on Jenin and Nablus. At the same time, the senior officer emphasized that since Operation Lion's Den, "we are seeing an increase for various reasons in the scope of terror developing in Judea and Samaria, in semi-military cells and lone-wolf attackers." According to him, these are "additional issues that have been growing under Iranian direction from Gaza and Turkey, including the smuggling of weapons and terror funds, some of which are digital."
Alongside a very large counter-terrorism effort by the IDF and the Shin Bet against terrorist infrastructure, there is ongoing activity to prevent the transfer of terror funds to the West Bank and to secure the seam line to thwart and disrupt terrorists who want to penetrate deep into the territory of the State of Israel.
According to the senior officer, the Chief of Staff made a decision to reduce the force structure in Lebanon and Gaza and transferred another brigade to Judea and Samaria even before the attack in Samaria. Now, following the attack, additional battalions of soldiers are expected to arrive. In addition, 19 new settlements have been added in recent years that require security — a trend of expanding illegal outposts. At this stage, not including the outposts established overnight, there are 80 new outposts. Furthermore, there are currently 126 farms in Judea and Samaria, excluding the Jordan Valley, which pose a major challenge in defense against attacks.
"The violent outposts are one of the events that challenge the ability to hold the territory and create law and order," the senior officer said, emphasizing the Samaria and Binyamin regions: "We are heading into tense days and weeks."
Currently, the IDF is working to arrest everyone involved in the attack in the village of Tel.
