IDF deepens massive counter-terror raid in Jenin; 26 terrorists including several Hamas members killed, dozens of bombs destroyed

Israel's counter-terror operation in Samaria continues into 4th day

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Israel Defense Forces broadened its large-scale raid in the northern Samaria city of Jenin on Saturday morning, as the massive counter-terror operation entered its fourth day.

According to the IDF, 26 terrorists have been killed so far and more than 30 wanted terror suspects have been detained as part of the raid, dubbed “Summer Camps.”

According to AFP, of those killed, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have officially acknowledged 13 as their members.

The IDF said it expanded its operations into Jenin after completing simultaneous raids, including in Tulkarm, Nur a-Shams, Tubas and Fara’a.

Israeli troops entered the Jenin “refugee” camp early on Saturday morning. IDF engineering vehicles began the raid by ripping up streets in the camp, destroying dozens of explosive charges planted there.

Subsequently, the soldiers began combing through narrow alleyways to search for suspects and weapons.

“We were surprised by the amount of charges - they planted dozens - this is a real danger,” a senior officer at the IDF’s Central Command told Army Radio. However, army sources said most of the charges were produced locally with faulty material.

IDF soldiers engaged in intense gun battles, eliminating three terrorists and wounding another. Hamas has acknowledged that two of the deceased were members of its organization.

“We are talking about two of the most prominent Hamas terrorists in the Jenin refugee camp, who are responsible for a number of shooting and explosive attacks,” a military source told Army Radio.

Hamas claimed a significant loss on Saturday, when the head of its Jenin operations, Wissam Hazem, was killed in a gunbattle.

Two other terrorists with Hazem were eliminated in an airstrike as they tried to flee.

Wessam Khazem, commander of Hamas’s armed wing in Jenin who was killed by Israeli security forces earlier today, is a Norwegian citizen. His family moved to Norway several years ago, but he chose to return alone to Jenin Refugee Camp. pic.twitter.com/uhndIgKVPS
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) August 30, 2024

“M16 rifles, a pistol, magazines, chargers, bombs, and tens of thousands of shekels of terrorist funds were found in the terrorists' vehicle and on their bodies,” the IDF stated.

In another confrontation, IDF troops eliminated a squad of three terrorists who attacked them in a village near Jenin.

Palestinian media reported on Saturday that "large numbers" of residents began evacuating the areas in Jenin most heavily affected by the conflict.

“The terrorist organizations have taken over the refugee camps in northern Samaria, are trying to establish themselves and create terrorist infrastructures in them. At the same time, they continue to carry out terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria and in on Israel’s home front,” a company commander explained.

“In light of this, we launched an operation in order to destroy the terrorist infrastructures and the terrorists in Jenin and Tulkarm, and to remove the threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is tasked with maintaining security control over the towns in Judea and Samaria; however, it effectively manages only the capital, Ramallah.

"Palestinian Islamic Jihad controls Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas; Palestinian Authority controls Ramallah, while Hamas controls Hebron," an official with the PA's Fatah party told Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh.