Smotrich: Israel is “one step away” from an Oct. 7 from Judea and Samaria
Israeli security forces stand guard at the scene of a shooting attack, near Tarqumiyah, in Judea, Sept. 1, 2024. Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90.
(JNS) — Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sept. 1 urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order a broad counterterrorism campaign throughout Judea and Samaria, just hours after three police officers were shot dead by Palestinian terrorists near Hebron.
“I would like to address the prime minister, my colleagues in the Cabinet and the minister of defense. We are one step away from Oct. 7 in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said in a video recorded at the site near Hebron where Ch. Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch and First Sgt. Roni Shakuri were murdered that morning.
“We have the opportunity to do what we failed to do in Gaza on the night between Oct. 6 and 7,” he said. “To restore barriers, free ourselves of the [security] concept, and to strike terrorism with a hard blow.
“Gaza, Lebanon, and Judea and Samaria are part of the same Iranian choke ring that seeks to destroy the State of Israel,” stated Smotrich. “We are proving in Gaza that there is a military solution to terror. We must prove this here in Judea and Samaria and in Lebanon against Hezbollah.
“One people, one front, one war, and with the help of God, one strong, determined and victorious fist,” the right-wing minister concluded.
The three police officers were killed in a drive-by shooting on the morning of Sept. 1 near Tarqumiya, some 7.5 miles northwest of Hebron.
Israel Defense Forces soldiers initiated a search for the terrorists, who opened fire from a vehicle at the police car on Route 35 and then fled on foot. Roads in the area were closed to traffic and Israeli security forces were preparing to launch a raid on the nearby Arab village of Idna.
On Aug. 30, Palestinian car bombers wounded three Israelis in two separate attacks in the Gush Etzion region of Judea. The IDF believes that the two terrorists, both from Hebron, coordinated their attacks.
Over the weekend, an IDF soldier was killed and three others wounded during clashes with Hamas terrorists in Jenin in northern Samaria.
In the first half of 2024, Judea and Samaria saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to figures Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) published on Aug. 1.
In the first six months of this year, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges and 109 shootings.
Terrorists have killed 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in the Judea and Samaria regions since the start of the year, the group said.
