IDF Eliminates Terrorists in Rare Daytime Operation
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a rare daytime raid today in Nablus to arrest three terrorists responsible for the October murder of IDF St.-Sgt. Ido Baruch, other shooting attacks on IDF officers, and the planning of additional imminent shooting attacks. During the clashes between terrorists and the IDF, at least 10 Palestinians, including leaders of the local branch of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups, were killed, while more than 100 others were injured.
Several nearby mosques called on Palestinian residents to fight the IDF. Some residents did join the fray, throwing explosives and Molotov cocktails at soldiers.
After the fighting, terrorist groups and Palestinian leadership made threatening remarks toward Israel in their condemnation of the raid. Hamas’s military spokesman, Abu Obeida, said that militants in the Gaza Strip are watching Israel’s actions, and their “patience is running out.” The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement said, “The resistance will not neglect its right to respond to the Nablus aggression, and Palestinian blood is not cheap.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesperson said Israel is “responsible for this dangerous escalation, which is pushing the region toward tension and an explosive situation.”
A daytime operation that takes place in the middle of a busy city is certain to draw attention and raise the tensions of the terrorist organizations involved. But the apprehension of these specific terrorists is both overdue and just in time. More than four months have passed since St.-Sgt. Baruch’s death, so the attempt to arrest these individuals, which led to their death, should not come as a surprise or draw outrage. And since they have a pattern of plotting these attacks, including some that would soon take more lives, the cries for retaliation against the IDF sound weak at best.
Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups are never content to let Israel rest after the IDF arrests or eliminates their operatives. Their threats are not idle. Israel will continue to rely on the IDF and the Lord, who loves His people and will preserve them.
