IDF thwarts major terror attack at last minute amid efforts to prevent Ramadan escalation

The IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated a terrorist who was on the way to carry out a large-scale terror attack in Tel Aviv on Monday evening, as Israeli security forces are on high alert to prevent the escalation of tensions in the West Bank during Ramadan.

Soldiers of the IDF’s Duvdevan commando unit and Israel's Shin Bet security agency killed the terrorist Muhammad Jaber in Kafr Zeita close to the border as he was making his way to Israel.

Israeli forces found weapons, ammunition and a ready-to-use explosive device on the body of Jaber, a resident of Jenin.

“A large terror attack in Tel Aviv was thwarted tonight,” a senior security official told Hebrew news outlets.

The operation was part of the increased activity of security forces in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which sees heightened terror activity almost every year.

On Tuesday, the IDF stated it had arrested ten wanted persons across Judea and Samaria overnight, including a known operative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

Mahdi Fayed was arrested in Jenin together with two other suspects, one of whom was armed with an M-16. Fayed in the past carried out attacks using rifles and explosive devices against Israeli forces, the IDF said.

In the village of Urif in central Samaria, the IDF confiscated four lathes used for the production of weapons.

The night before, IDF troops arrested 20 wanted suspects. During operations in the Nur a-Shams refugee camp and in Tulkarm, the IDF discovered explosives intended to harm Israeli forces planted beneath roads.

In Kalkilia, the IDF seized another suspect and confiscated a weapon and seven pipe bombs from the vehicle of a terrorist who shot at troops during the operation.

In addition, approximately NIS 150,000 (over $40,000) in terrorist funds, several Molotov cocktails, and other weapons were confiscated during several other raids.

Israeli security forces have ramped up operations in Judea and Samaria since the beginning of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to prevent the escalation of an additional front.

Since last October, approximately 3,500 wanted persons have been arrested throughout Judea and Samaria, more than 1,500 of whom are associated with the Hamas terrorist group.