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While Israel continues to fight to eliminate Hamas from Gaza and to try to free more hostages, the Jewish State is simultaneously fighting to retain its heartland, Judea and Samaria (known by some as the “West Bank”) from increased incursions from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists backed by Iran, hostile elements from Jordan, and a Palestinian-supported diplomatic initiative in the United Nations.
Long trumpeted as the peace partner of Israel, the Palestinian Authority is poised to introduce an anti-Israel resolution in the United Nations next week. Rather than assist Israel in crushing Hamas, or in cleaning up its own genocidal rhetoric, the Palestinian Authority’s resolution is expected to call for the evacuation and ethnic cleansing of all Jews from Judea and Samaria in six months.
Such a resolution would merely reward terrorism from October 7 and its aftermath, including the renewed terrorism in Judea and Samaria.
The IDF is currently in the midst of its longest operation in Judea and Samaria in 20 years, targeting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad strongholds in in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Far’a. In late August, the IDF assassinated the leader of Hamas in Jenin (Wissam Hazem) in his car, while a drone assassinated two of his associates after they attempted to flee. According to the IDF, the three had been involved in attacks against Israelis, and were planning further attacks. A search of the car following the assassinations found handguns and assault rifles.
The day before, the IDF assassinated the local head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Muhammad Jaber) and four other terrorists in Tulkarem as they were hiding in a mosque. According to Israeli intelligence, Jaber had planned several terror attacks, including a murder in June, and according to Palestinian media, Israel had tried several times to kill the Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader.
In mid-August, Hamas claimed responsibility for a homicide bomber (Jaafar Mona) that killed himself and wounded a bystander in Tel Aviv. The homicide bomber was from Nablus, and according to Hamas was jointly sponsored by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. An additional homicide bomber dispatched by Hamas from Judea and Samaria had been neutralized by the IDF before crossing into Israel back in March.
But Israel doesn’t only have Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Iran to contend with in Judea and Samaria. A Jordanian truck driver killed three Israelis only a couple of days ago. While this may at present look like a “lone wolf attack,” Jordan, which has a peace treaty with Israel, took 14 hours to issue a statement in condemnation, which was muddled with condemnations of Israel’s alleged policies in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. Jordanians also celebrated the attack. Some have also noted the difference between the late King Hussein’s words of consolation to Israel following a terror attack from Jordan in 1997, and King Abdullah’s silence to the latest terror attack. Will Jordan uphold its security agreements with Israel, or will it be complicit to arms and terrorist smuggling through its border with Israel?
Israel must not let up its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, and it must soon deal with the growing threat from Hezbollah in Lebanon. But the Jewish state must also prioritize sovereignty over its heartland, Judea and Samaria, before it too again becomes a haven for terrorism.
