The fact that the military twice deployed air forces in the West Bank this week after two decades without doing so suggests that Israel is trying to change the game in the fight against Palestinian terror. This appears to have happened after Palestinian armed groups initially changed the rules by stepping up terrorist attacks and putting up more resistance to Israeli operations.
The northern West Bank, and in particular the city of Jenin and its environs, has long been considered a hotbed of terrorism for Israeli forces, as evidenced by a series of attacks in early 2022, many perpetrated by residents of the region. Several of Israel’s targeted airstrikes in the West Bank during the second Palestinian Intifada in the early 2000s also took place in Jenin, as did a major battle during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
While Jenin has never been considered entirely off-limits to Israeli military attacks, the IDF has faced greater resistance from Palestinian gunmen in the city over the years, with much heavier gunfire compared to other West Bank cities, particularly in recent months. This was made even clearer during an IDF attack on Monday, when a large roadside bomb detonated near a convoy of military vehicles.
The explosive device severely damaged a Panther infantry fighting vehicle and caused minor to moderate injuries to seven soldiers. Gunmen from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the dominant terrorist group in Jenin, opened fire on the disabled vehicle while the army worked to evacuate the wounded IDF soldiers to hospitals. In the clashes that ensued, seven Palestinians were killed and nearly 100 injured.
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Such explosive devices have not been an uncommon sight in the West Bank in recent months, but the extent of the damage to the APC and the high number of Israeli casualties has been. To help evacuate the wounded soldiers under fire, an Apache helicopter fired missiles into open areas near the roadside bomb site to deter Islamic Jihad gunmen.
The use of Apache was not typical for such operations. In the early 2000s, during the Second Intifada, the IDF used attack helicopters in the West Bank, but only under special circumstances and not routinely.
An Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopter overflies during an Israeli army attack in Jenin in the West Bank June 19, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Then on Wednesday there was a drone attack on a car carrying three Palestinian gunmen from Jenin – two from Islamic Jihad and the third a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a coalition of armed groups loosely affiliated with the ruling Palestinian Fatah party Autonomous Authority connected. According to the IDF, this was the first such deadly airstrike on Palestinians in the West Bank since 2006.
According to military officials, the attack was not a targeted killing, as is common in the Israeli Gaza Strip. The three gunmen were not senior officials and had gone months before an assassination attempt. Instead, they were unlucky enough to attempt an attack just as Israel was trying to regain deterrence in the region after a series of gunfire. To that end, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had authorized the military to conduct a drone strike on terrorist cells engaged in shootings, circumstances permitting.
The trio had driven from Jenin to the nearby Jalameh checkpoint and opened fire. Moments later, an Artillery Corps Elbit Hermes 450 drone struck her vehicle, killing her.
An Elbit Hermes 450 drone lands at Palmachim Air Force Base during Operation Breaking Dawn in early August 2022. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Over the past year, Palestinian gunmen have repeatedly attacked forces conducting arrest raids, military posts and checkpoints, Israeli settlements and civilians on roads, particularly in the northern West Bank. Generally, such gunmen are either killed during the attack by ground forces, or later apprehended or killed during army raids.
In recent weeks, terrorists in the northern West Bank have apparently stepped up their attacks, killing 32-year-old Meir Tamari near the settlement of Hermesh on May 30; A civilian wounded near the Palestinian town of Huwara on June 6; One civilian and four soldiers wounded near the Palestinian town of Yabed on June 13; and the killings of 17-year-old Nachman Mordoff, 17-year-old Elisha Anteman, 21-year-old Harel Masood and 64-year-old Ofer Fayerman near the settlement of Eli on Tuesday.
Israeli security forces at the scene of a deadly terrorist attack near the West Bank settlement of Eli, June 20, 2023. (Flash90)
Military officials say they have realized that Palestinian terrorists are increasingly using highways in the northern West Bank for their attacks and then fleeing deep into Palestinian cities, often without being caught. One of the Hamas-affiliated terrorists who carried out the attack near Eli managed to flee about 70 kilometers (43 miles) in a stolen car before being shot dead by special forces in a Palestinian town.
For this reason, according to military officials, the drone attack late on Wednesday was carried out to prevent the gunmen from fleeing and later carrying out further attacks. According to the IDF and the Shin Bet intelligence agency, the trio have been behind numerous similar attacks in the northern West Bank.
The IDF also reinforced the West Bank with additional forces to better secure highways after Tuesday’s shooting near Eli.
An explosive device left by Palestinians detonates near an Israeli armored vehicle during an Israeli army raid in Jenin in the West Bank June 19, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Palestinian terrorists are changing the rules, with an increase in shooting attacks in the northern West Bank, increased resistance to Israeli incursions in Jenin, and even some unsuccessful attempts to manufacture rockets to be fired at Israel or Israeli settlements. Now Israel, too, is beginning to use new or long-unexploited tactics to combat Palestinian terror.
If drone strikes on gunmen become a regular occurrence, it will likely impact the way terrorist groups operate in the region. It remains to be seen whether the military air force threat will prompt the organizations to scale back their operations, at least in the short term, or whether it will instead trigger an even worse spiral of escalation with Israel.
In the long term, Palestinian terrorist groups are expected to continue to adapt to Israel’s methods, change their modus operandi and continue to challenge the military.