Hamas terror in Samaria: Senior Hamas commander killed by IDF special forces

IDF special forces killed the commander of the Hamas cell in the village of Tubas, in northern Samaria overnight, the Israeli military announced on Friday morning.

Muhammad Daraghmah was a senior Hamas operative in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, and had appeared on the IDF's wanted list for a long time.

On Friday morning, images circulating on social media showed Daraghmah’s car riddled with bullet holes. Army Radio reported that Daraghmah was shooting at soldiers and attempted to run them over.

After a short fire exchange, he was eliminated. The IDF soldiers of the Duvdevan commando unit later found a large amount of ammunition in his car.

Palestinian sources report that the #IDF forces killed the commander of the Tubas Battalion this morning, Muhammad Rasul De'Ama known as: "A-Sadra" (in Arabic: the Rock). (1/3) pic.twitter.com/ULtOFb005D

— AbuAliEnglish (@AbuAliEnglishB1) April 12, 2024

Daraghmah “was a central Hamas operative in the area and has been engaged in recent months in promoting significant terrorist activities against Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.

Despite his seniority, Ynet News reported that Daraghmah wasn’t the specific target of the operation but was killed when he opened fire at the soldiers.

During the brigade-level operation in Tubas, other terrorists threw explosives and shot at the Israeli soldiers, who returned fire, killing another terrorist and wounding four people, according to Palestinian reports.

Two wanted suspects were arrested during the operation, and several weapons were found and confiscated, the IDF said.

According to Ynet, Daraghmah, also known as “The Rock,” had been wanted by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority for several years. He was the son of another senior Hamas member in the West Bank, who died in an Israeli prison last October.

Daraghmah led the Hamas cell based in the al-Fara’ah refugee camp near Tubas, which has been raided by the IDF multiple times in recent months, with each raid resulting in intense clashes.

Several other nearby villages in northern Samaria and the nearby Jordan Valley are considered strongholds of terrorism and support for Hamas, Ynet reported.

In overnight operations throughout Judea and Samaria, Israeli security forces arrested five other suspects and confiscated several more weapons.

Since the outbreak of the war against Hamas, Israeli forces arrested 3,700 wanted suspects in Judea and Samaria, with 1,600 of those being affiliated with Hamas.