''In the coming period they will attempt to execute terror attacks of the same type that we have recently seen''. Photo: IDF Spokesperson

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The Judea and Samaria Division is preparing for terror attacks by Hamas in retaliation for the elimination of the two operatives responsible for the shooting attack near the Bnei Naim junction which occurred a month and a half ago. As a result of their lethal shooting attack on the night of August 31st, four Israelis were killed. Yizhak and Talia Aimes, Avishai Shindler and Kochba Even-Chaim were all residents of Beit Chagay.

 “In the southern Judea region, places still exist where weapons and additional terrorist cells are concealed. In the coming period they will attempt to execute terror attacks of the same type that we have recently seen. The recent elimination does not necessarily deter additional terrorist cells from executing attacks”, said the Central Command’s Intelligence Officer, Col. Ronen.

The Israel Security Agency (ISA) the Yamam special police unit (the civilian counter-terrorism unit), the Duvdevan elite Unit, the border patrol forces and the 96th Lavi Battalion from the Kfir Brigade all took part in the recent military operation near the Jabal Johar neighborhood in Hebron. During the operation, which started late in the evening of October 8th and lasted until the following afternoon, the soldiers surrounded the house in which the two wanted Palestinians were located.

The two armed terrorists opened fire at the soldiers and the situation soon became an exchange of fire. “We identified three armed terrorists fleeing the house. Yamam forces fired at them and one direct shot was identified with one terrorist, while the others returned to the house”, Capt. Margalit recalled. “At the same moment, all the civilians who were not connected to the wanted terrorists left the house, along with one suspect. After several hours, during which the engineering forces demolished the building, we identified the body of the last terrorist and the demolition was stopped”. During searches carried out after the operation in the area, four Kalashnikov rifles and eight magazines were found, among other weaponry.

The Central Command noted that the elimination of the two terrorists put an end to the chase that began on the day of the terrorist attack. “In such an operation, when dealing with terrorists with blood on their hands, the soldiers have a higher level of preparedness”, the Deputy Brigade Commander of the Judea region, Lt. Col. Oded Bar-Maoz explained. “It is an opportunity we could not miss; otherwise the terrorists could disappear from the field for many years. In my opinion, such an operation has an influence on the terrorists’ motivation to execute a terror attack”. According to the Command’s Intelligence Officer, the terrorists’ hiding location was not coincidental: they chose to hide in a village of the H2 territory, an area where the Palestinian security services do not operate, and therefore they felt relatively safe there. “They thought we wouldn’t find them, but in the end we got to them and came full circle”, Col. Ronen concluded.