Gaza terror groups reportedly fear Israeli assassinations amid growing West Bank terror

The leaders of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Gaza-based terror groups are reportedly fearing Israeli assassinations amid growing terror attacks against Israeli citizens in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria.

Terrorists have already killed some 35 Israelis in 2023, making it one of the most lethal years since the Second Intifada two decades ago. Israeli mother, Batsheva Nigri, was recently murdered in front of her 12-year-old daughter in the politically restive Hebron area in the southern West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders are increasingly blaming Iran and its terror proxies for the ongoing terror wave against Israeli civilians. In recent months, Gaza-based Iranian-backed terror groups, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have stepped up their terror activities in the West Bank in an effort to undermine their rival, the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah party leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, an Arabic London-based paper recently reported that anti-Israel terror groups in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon are taking “unprecedented” security measures due to growing fears that the Jewish state will resume targeted assassinations of terror chiefs.

The Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem has warned that Israel could potentially “attack terrorists and those dispatching them,” a reference to Iran and its terror proxies, such as Hamas and PIJ in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli security establishment may believe that such a response could deter, or at least reduce the number of, future terror attacks in the West Bank arena.

Gaza-based terror groups are taking the Israeli warnings “seriously” and have reportedly even evacuated main positions in the coastal strip due to the increased presence of Israeli reconnaissance drones patrolling Gazan airspace.

At the same time, Gaza- and Lebanon-based terror organizations have reportedly warned of a response to any Israeli “aggression” in an attempt to change the rules of the game by stressing the West Bank violence is linked to Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

In the early 2000s during the Second Intifada, Israel frequently targeted the senior leaders of terror groups such as Hamas and PIJ.

In May, following several rockets fired at Israeli cities from Gaza, the Israeli military launched Operation Shield and Arrow against PIJ terror operatives in the Gaza Strip. Combining air power with superb real-time intelligence, the Jewish state succeeded in eliminating a number of top Islamic Jihad terror operatives, including Ali Ghali, who served as the group’s rocket commander.

Following the brief Gaza military operation, Netanyahu praised the cooperative achievement of the Israeli Air Force and the Shin Bet security agency in pinpointing PIJ's military leadership.

"The execution was, indeed, perfect. In a total surprise and continuing initiative we took out the entire top echelon of Islamic Jihad in Gaza. We destroyed 17 Jihad command centers, killed dozens of terrorists, struck rocket and missiles stores, stopped anti-tank cells and more,” Netanyahu said.

“Today, the enemies of Israel and far beyond Gaza know that even if they try to hide, we can and we are willing to reach them at any time. This recognition grew significantly stronger in Operation Shield and Arrow. We changed the equation,” added the Israeli premier.

At the time, Hamas, the largest Gaza-based terror group, decided to stay on the sideline and watch while the Israeli military decimated the leadership of its rival, PIJ.

However, the question is whether the deterrence is still intact. The Iranian regime, which is orchestrating much of the terror activities against Israel appears to be increasingly encouraging its terror proxies to step up their attacks on Israelis on different fronts. Ultimately, the ongoing terror campaign against Israel will likely be determined by larger external factors such as Israeli deterrence toward Iran, developments of the current Iranian-Saudi détente and potential Saudi-Israeli normalization.