“The IDF and Shin Bet will not allow terrorism to take root in the area and are acting proactively to thwart it,” a joint statement affirmed.
The IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Border Police officers began conducting a “broad counterterrorism operation” in the northern West Bank, a joint IDF-Shin Bet statement said on Wednesday morning.
“The IDF and Shin Bet will not allow terrorism to take root in the area and are acting proactively to thwart it,” the agencies stated.
The announcement follows days of heightened Israeli security activity in the West Bank, particularly in the northern area.
Following the IDF and Shin Bet’s announcement, Palestinian Authority-run media outlet Wafa reported Israeli forces operated in Tubas, Aqaba, and Tammun. The outlet claimed Israeli forces raided several homes, damaging and ransacking their contents, while bringing in heavy military reinforcements.
According to Wafa, bulldozers blocked main and secondary roads with mounds of earth, and military procedures were tightened at the Tayasir and Hamra checkpoints, restricting citizens’ movement and creating traffic jams.
IDF soldiers during an operation in the West Bank. (credit: IDF)
The Palestinian source also reported that helicopters fired intermittently during the operation, though no injuries were reported.
Recent Israeli security activity in the northern West Bank
On Tuesday, Israeli forces engaged and killed Sultan al-Ghani, the terrorist responsible for the 2024 murder of Israeli security guard Gideon Perry, in an area near Jenin in the northern West Bank.
Five other suspects were arrested, and the forces seized firearms, explosives, and other ordnance during the operation.
Earlier, on Monday, operating in the northern West Bank City of Nablus, Israeli troops killed Ala Raouf Shetiyya, the terrorist responsible for the 2024 deaths of two IDF Kfir Brigade soldiers. According to the military, St.-Sgt. Eliya Hilel and St.-Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj from Tel Aviv, of the Paratroopers’ 101st Battalion, were killed in a ramming attack perpetrated by Shetiyya.
IDF troops, operating with Shin Bet direction, arrested more than 60 wanted suspects across the West Bank last week, including 18 Hamas operatives
Members of the IDF‘s Paratroopers Brigade killed a terrorist who threw rocks at soldiers in Ofra in the northern West Bank, the military confirmed on Sunday.
The Paratroopers were dispatched to the area following a report about several terrorists throwing rocks at Israeli citizens. After dispersing the crowd, an additional terrorist hurled rocks at the Israeli troops, who responded with “precise fire” and killed them.
No injuries to Israeli forces were reported.
Security forces operate in the West Bank, November 21, 2025. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
IDF arrests over 60 suspects in West Bank, including 18 suspected Hamas affiliates
The arrests took place in multiple sectors, including those of the Etzion, Judea, Binyamin, Menashe, Shomron, and Ephraim Brigades, as troops seized rifles, pistols, magazines, and explosives, and closed two workshops used to manufacture weapons.
Gallant’s decision to leave Amikam was made after a security risk assessment conducted by the Shin Bet.
Former defense minister Yoav Gallant vacated his home in Moshav Amikam in northern Israel over a year ago, following a threat made against him shortly before the end of his term.
The decision to leave Amikam was made after a security risk assessment conducted by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
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Gallant is currently renting an apartment in Tel Aviv with his wife, Israeli media reported on Friday.
The apartment was described as “luxurious,” though no additional details were provided regarding its size or other specifications.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a press conference at Hakirya base in Tel Aviv, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire him from his position as a Defence Minister, on November 5, 2024. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
Gallant evacuated due security threat
Sources familiar with the matter said the Shin Bet's evacuation order was issued due to the location of Gallant's home and the nature of the threat. However, they noted that the level of risk Gallant faces remains exceptionally high.
No details have ever been officially published regarding the nature of the threat or the circumstances surrounding it.
“The people of Israel deserve answers about how the terrible failure happened and how to prevent it from happening again,” former prime minister Naftali Bennett published on X/Twitter.
The protest was organized by the October Council, an activist group made up of hundreds of families affected by the massacre.
“The people of Israel deserve answers about how the terrible failure happened and how to prevent it from happening again,” former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who was present at the protest, published on X/Twitter.
Other opposition leaders were present alongside Bennett, including Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman, Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, and Yair Golan.
“Tonight in the square, we gathered with one clear call – the establishment of a state commission of inquiry. In our government, this will happen in the first days,” Lapid wrote on X.
In a separate event at Hostage Square, families of the hostages gathered to demand the return of the three missing hostages whose remains are still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Strong message against Netanyahu
“Nine ministers and officials in the government of default and disaster were called this week for the despicable task of training the creep called the ‘Special Investigation Committee.’ Their mission is to ensure that the truth is not investigated and never comes to light,” former MK Yizhar Shai, father of the late Yaron Shai, a Nahal Brigade soldier who fell on October 7, said.
Shai served as an MK for Gantz’s Blue and White party, and was Innovation, Science, and Technology minister.
Lior Akerman, a former brigadier-general who served as a Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) division head, said he used to identify with the right-wing policies in Israel, but the current events have made him understand that “the problems are no longer between right and left.”
“For three years now, the government has been attacking and harming the state’s institutions, its security organizations, the legal system, and the law,” Akerman said. He also claimed that the current administration is trampling on the values of statehood, morality, and unity in an effort to create a dictatorship.
According to the IDF, Wednesday’s strikes also targeted Hamas infrastructure and operatives across several sites in Gaza.
Abdallah Abu Shamala, head of Hamas’s Navy in Gaza, and Fadi Abu Mustafa, a senior tunnel engineer in the Khan Yunis Brigade, were killed during IDF strikes on Wednesday, the military confirmed in a joint statement with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Thursday.
The operation followed Hamas’s violation of the ceasefire agreement and was guided by joint intelligence. According to the IDF and ISA, Abu Mustafa also took part in holding hostages captive, including Nimrod Cohen and David Cunio.
Abu Shamala advanced attacks against Israeli forces and maritime targets throughout the war, according to the IDF.
According to the IDF, Wednesday’s strikes also targeted Hamas infrastructure and operatives across several sites in Gaza.
Smoke rises from Gaza following an explosion, as seen from Israel, May 16, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
Multiple ceasefire violations in Gaza
In recent weeks, Israeli officials and analysts have warned that Hamas is seeking to rebuild and test the ceasefire’s limits. In contrast, Israeli forces have responded to multiple threats and attempts to enter the IDF-controlled ‘Yellow Line.’
On Wednesday, Israeli troops stationed behind the Yellow Line found an eight-tubed rocket launcher with four rockets aimed at Israel while clearing the area.
In addition, during a separate operation by the Kfir Brigade, several weapons were found, including Kalashnikov rifles, fragmentation grenades, explosives, magazines, and military uniforms.
The 1,700 Gaza detainees who will be released will not be terrorists who raided on October 7, 2023, and the release of Hamas operatives has been limited as much as possible.
The number of Palestinian security prisoners being released by Israel in exchange for the return of 48 hostages, 20 still alive, is the lowest ratio agreed upon in decades, Walla reported on Friday night.
Walla learned that the final list of security prisoners includes 195 prisoners serving life sentences and only 60 of them are Hamas operatives. Just for comparison, in the Shalit deal, 450 Hamas operatives were released, including prisoners who led significant terrorism against the State of Israel.
The 1,700 Gaza detainees who will be released will not be terrorists who raided on October 7, 2023, and the release of Hamas operatives has been limited as much as possible.
The Shin Bet managed to uphold the principles it had established at the beginning of the negotiations with Hamas regarding who would not be included in the list of those to be released:
Hamas’s 25 most senior prisoners were not included in the list despite Hamas’s initial demand to include them in the deal. This includes the bodies of Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Sinwar.
Illustrative image of former Hamas leaders Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar. (credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Shutterstock, IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT, REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa)
Walla learned that the Shin Bet’s veto list included a total of around 100 security prisoners. In addition to Hamas senior officials and sergeants, it also included Hamas operatives who were heads of infrastructure, experts in sabotage and explosives, and child murderers. For example, the terrorists who murdered the Fogel family were not included in the list.
Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, their three-month-old baby sister and parents Ehud and Ruth were murdered by PFLP terrorists in March 2011. Only the 12-year-old eldest daughter Tamar, eight-year-old son Roi and 2-year-old son, Shay survived the attack on the Fogel family home.
Excluded from the deal
Senior officials and sergeants that Hamas demanded were also on the Shin Bet’s veto list and constituted a red line throughout the negotiations. Israel will not release:
• Ibrahim Hamed – was the head of Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank during the Second Intifada. Considered the mastermind behind several serious suicide attacks, in which dozens of Israelis were murdered (the attack at Cafe Moment in Jerusalem, the attack at the Sheffield Club in Rishon LeZion).
• Ahmed Saadat – Secretary-General of the Hamas in the West Bank, who is a symbol for planning the murder of the late Minister Rehavam Ze’evi. A figure that Hamas has been trying to release since the Shalit deal and in all the deals throughout the current war.
• Marwan Barghouti – is a leadership symbol in the Palestinian public, from the days of the First Intifada he led the Tanzim in the West Bank. He was convicted due to his involvement in attacks in which Israelis were murdered.
• Hassan Salameh – a senior Hamas figure, was one of the planners of serious bomb attacks in which dozens of Israelis were murdered.
• Abbas al-Sayed – Head of Hamas in Tul During the Second Intifada, Kerem was responsible for planning the attack on the hotel in the park in which dozens of Israelis were murdered.
The list also did not include security prisoners who are Israeli citizens – another clause in the negotiations on the lists that the Shin Bet insisted on.
Walla learned from sources involved in the negotiations for the release of the hostages that pressure was exerted by Hamas to release prisoners who had committed murder and had not yet been sentenced, or extremely dangerous former prisoners who were recently arrested (for example, the heads of Hamas’s infrastructure in Hebron who were recently thwarted by the Shin Bet). The Shin Bet repelled these attempts and refused to release these Hamas prisoners. In practice, they are not being released.
A look at past deals
It is important to note that the Shin Bet negotiating team, led by two current and former Shin Bet deputy heads, S. and M., succeeded in bending the Hamas negotiating team, and the analysis of the data shows that the prisoner release ratio is low compared to past deals:
• Jibril Deal (1985) – three living IDF soldiers were traded for 1,151 prisoners, of which 380 were life prisoners.
• Deal with Hezbollah (2004) – Three bodies of IDF soldier and a living civilian (Elhanan Tenenbaum) were exchanged for 436 prisoners.
• Shalit deal (2011) – For a living IDF soldier, 1,027 prisoners were released (including 450 Hamas members), of whom 279 were life prisoners.
According to the IDF, the Hamas terrorist activity that occurred near the hospital happened without the involvement or knowledge of the Jordanians who run the hospital.
The IDF revealed on Saturday a tunnel shaft leading to an underground workshop used for manufacturing weapons that was found adjacent to the Jordanian Hospital in southern Gaza City.
According to the IDF, the Hamas terrorist activity that occurred near the hospital happened without the involvement or knowledge of the Jordanians.
Exploiting humanitarian facilities
“The Hamas terrorist organization operates systematically in hospital areas, exploiting humanitarian facilities for military purposes,” said the IDF.
“For years, the organization has established an underground system beneath hospitals throughout the Strip, which is used to produce weapons and conduct combat.”
IDF reveals Hamas tunnels across from Gaza City hospital (IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Soldiers from the IDF’s 36th Division worked alongside the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the Intelligence Directorate, and the Yahalom combat engineers to locate the tunnel.
An additional tunnel shaft was located beneath Hamad Hospital in Gaza City.
He also carried out numerous attacks on IDF soldiers operating in Gaza, including sniper and anti-tank fire.
Hamas terrorist Musa Shaldan was killed in Gaza City last week, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed in a joint statement on Monday.
Shaldan, a deputy commander of Hamas’s Zeitun Battalion, participated in the October 7 massacre, as well as taking part in thehostage release parades Hamas arranged earlier this year.
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He also carried out numerous attacks on IDF soldiers operating in Gaza, including sniper and anti-tank fire.
AN IDF convoy maneuvers on the Israeli side of the Gaza border last week. ‘I would suggest that this is our second war of independence, a test of our resolve to project and protect our sovereignty,’ says the writer. (credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
The IDF stated that Hussein also took part in abducting Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023, and the massacre of several Israeli civilians when he threw a grenade into a bomb shelter in Re'im, near Route 232.
“Now the next in line are the triangle, the circle, and the square,” he said, alluding to the code names the hostages gave the Hamas members holding them captive.
The IDF and Shin Bet announced on Sunday the elimination of the terrorist who abducted Eliya Cohen from a shelter on Highway 232, in the Re’im area, on October 7.
Cohen responded to the news alongside his fiancée, Ziv Abud, a survivor of the Nova music festival.
The two had sought refuge in a shelter now known as the “death bunker.” Of those who hid there, 16 were killed by terrorists, four were taken hostage, and seven were rescued by Israeli forces.
The two responded to the full circle moment in a video on Sunday.
The happiest person in the world
“Wow, I think I’m the happiest person in the world right now,” said Ziv. “Whoever kidnapped Eliya, who pulled him out from among all the bodies and loaded him into a pickup truck like a sack of potatoes and took him to Gaza in a pickup truck, the IDF took him down.”
Ziv Abud with the hostage poster for her partner, Elia Cohen (credit: Screenshot/Instagram)
Abud then turned the camera to Eliyah and asked, “What do you have to say about that?”
Eliyah responded, “First of all, thank God, thank you, Father.”
“Now the next in line are the triangle, the circle, and the square,” alluding to the code names the hostages gave the Hamas members holding them captive.
Earlier, Eliyah spoke with Jerusalem mayor Moshe Leon at an event for community leaders, where he told his personal story and sang a song of praise for the killing of his captor.
Both responsible have been eliminated
The IDF and Shin Bet identified the Hamas terrorist as Hassan Mahmoud Hassan Hussein, who served as the commander of Nukbha in the Al-Bureij Battalion of the Hamas Central Camps Brigade.
Hussein, who had led the attack on the bomb shelter in Re’im alongside Muhammad Abu Atiwi, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza.
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced canceling 750 Palestinian work permits and demolishing homes after the Jerusalem attack, drawing pushback from security chiefs.
A battle broke out within the defense establishment on Tuesday as Defense MinisterIsrael Katz announced the elimination of certain Palestinian work permits and the demolition of particular Palestinian residences in response to the terror attack in Jerusalem on Monday.
More specifically, Katz said that he would cancel the work permits of 750 Palestinian workers from the villages of Qatannah and Al-Qubeibah, where the two terrorists who perpetrated Monday’s attack were from, and that he would order the demolition of Palestinian residences in those areas which had been built illegally.
The defense minister’s statement generated significant confusion since he mentioned that he had the support of outgoing COGAT chief Maj.-Gen. Raasan Elian, but he did not mention the rest of the defense establishment.
The Shin Bet and the two IDF commanders who have led the Central Command during the war, Maj.-Gen. Yehuda Fuchs and Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, have pressed heavily for the government to restore the over 200,000 West Bank Palestinian work permits approved before the war started, and which the cabinet dropped to around 10,000.
Although the political echelon said dropping the work permit numbers was necessary to avoid terrorists after October 7, there has been no evidence to date of any statistically significant number of terrorists from those who received work permits.
Israeli security forces disperse Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron, August 31, 2025. (credit: WISAM HASHLAMOUN/FLASH90)
In fact, the Shin Bet and the IDF are convinced that the cabinet’s decision to cancel work permits drove many normative persons to terrorism by denying them work opportunities and leaving them nothing to do with their time.
There are no indications that the Shin Bet or IDF Central Command have changed their view after the Monday terror attack, and The Jerusalem Post understands that they are still in favor of increasing, rather than decreasing, work permits for West Bank Palestinians (vs for Gazans.)
In contrast, the Post can confirm that Elian does support Katz’s policy change.
While Elian also supports increasing work permits for West Bank Palestinians in general, he believes that a narrow targeted work permit penalty against villages that produce terrorists could be effective in deterring future terror from such villages.
‘Only a few bad apples’
When pressed that such a policy could backfire in the villages that were generally peaceful, with only a few “bad apples,” that would view the collective punishment as unfair, Elian would say that some past targeted penalties had demonstrated the opposite, that normative villages understood they were only being penalized because of the isolated incidents.
The penalty had led the villagers to increase pressure on extremist elements in their village against perpetrating terror, in order to have their work permits restored.
Sources did not dismiss the possibility of the work permits being restored if the villages remained quiet, though there was no set timeline for doing so.
The Post also understands that the announcement regarding destroying Palestinian residences was not coordinated with IDF legal authorities.
In fact, it is unclear what legal authority the IDF has to destroy Palestinian residences in Area A or Area B of the West Bank under Palestinian control because they were built “illegally,” given that the PA decides what is legal and illegal building in those areas.
Israel can demolish Palestinian residences built in Area C without approval or in areas under PA control if connected to specific terrorists and approved by Israeli legal authorities and the courts.
But this would not apply to a general rule against Palestinians who had not committed terror.
Katz did not specify where or how many residences might be demolished.
Naeem held several roles in Hamas’s Gaza City brigade, and throughout the war, was a senior operative in military intelligence and was close to Gaza City brigade commander Ezz al-Din Haddad.
Security forces killed Hamas terrorist Hazem Awni Naeem, who held Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Naama Levy hostage, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed on Tuesday.
Naeem was killed in a coordinated strike by the IDF and Shin Bet on August 28 in the Gaza City area, the military said.
Naeem held several roles in Hamas’s Gaza City brigade, and throughout the war, was a senior operative in military intelligence and was close to Gaza City brigade commander Ezz al-Din Haddad.
The IDF and ISA eliminated the senior terrorist Hazem Awni Naeem in the Gaza City area. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)
Reports from Naeem’s death surfaced on Sunday, with the IDF confirming his death on Monday through its official channels.
Damari reacted to the news of his death with an Instagram post where she thanked Israel’s security forces, who “never rest for a moment on behalf of all of us,” and hoped that good news, including the announcement of the return of the remaining 48 hostages, would come “sooner than expected.”
Previous killing of other Damari terror captor
Mohammed Nasser Ali Qanita, another Hamas terrorist who held Damari and the others captive, was confirmed killed by the IDF and Shin Bet in July, following a targeted attack in mid-June.
Qanita was a member of Hamas’s military intelligence’s al-Furqan Battalion. He infiltrated Israel on October 7 and then held Damari hostage in his home at the start of the war.
Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, has been killed in an air strike in Gaza City, Israel has said.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz congratulated the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet, for the “flawless execution” in a post on X.
He gave no detail on the time or location of the operation, but the IDF earlier said its aircraft attacked “a key terrorist” in the al-Rimal neighbourhood on Saturday, prompting reports in Israeli media that Obeida had been the target.
Hamas has not confirmed his death. The Palestinian armed group earlier said dozens of civilians were killed and injured in Israeli strikes on a residential building in the district.
Katz warned on Sunday that many more of Obeida’s “criminal partners” would be targeted with “the intensification of the campaign in Gaza” – a reference to a recently approved Israeli plan to seize control of Gaza City.
Separately, the IDF and Shin Bet offered more details about Saturday’s strikes that targeted the Hamas spokesman.
They said in a joint statement that the operation had been “made possible due to prior intelligence gathered by [Shin Bet] and the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate” that had identified his hiding place.
Five missiles struck the second and third floor of the six-storey apartment building simultaneously from two different directions.
The targeted flat had been used as a dentist’s surgery. Witnesses reported hundreds of thousands of dollars flying into the air because of the strike, with large sums stolen and later recovered by Hamas members.
Obeida was among the few remaining senior members of Hamas’s military wing from before its deadly 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
The joint statement said Obeida “served as the public face of the Hamas terrorist organization” and “disseminated Hamas’ propaganda”.
Over the past few years, Obeida – believed to be about 40 years old – delivered a number of long diatribes against Israel on behalf of Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
Always masked in a Palestinian scarf, he became an idol to Hamas supporters throughout the Middle East.
In what may have been his final speech on Friday, Obeida said the fate of remaining Israeli hostages would be the same as that of Hamas fighters, warning Israel against its planned invasion of Gaza City.
Palestinians flee as smoke is seen billowing over Gaza City following an Israeli air strike on Saturday [EPA]
On Saturday, Hamas accused the IDF of hitting a residential building in the densely populated al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Local journalists reported that at least seven people had been killed and 20 injured in the strikes, with children among the casualties.
The IDF said that prior to the attack “many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial observations, and additional intelligence information”.
BBC News has been unable to independently verify the claims of either the IDF or Hamas.
In early August, Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City in a fresh offensive, with the stated aim of bringing the 22-month-long war to an end.
The UN has repeatedly warned that a complete military takeover would risk “catastrophic consequences” for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The UK’s ambassador to Israel has said it would be “a huge mistake”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Hamas and defied international criticism of his plans to expand the war.
Israel’s military operation in Gaza began in response to the Hamas-led 7 October attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Since then, more than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
While the operation to capture Gaza City has yet to begin in earnest, Israeli attacks on the city – where nearly a million people live – have been ongoing.
The Israeli military has said it plans to evacuate Gaza City’s entire population and move it to shelters in the south before troops move in. Most of Gaza’s population has already been displaced many times during the conflict.
More than 90% of the city’s homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.
The 24-year-old suspect was apprehended on August 6 during a joint operation by the Israel Police officers from the Etzion police station in the West Bank and the IDF.
The 24-year-old suspect was apprehended on August 6 during a joint operation by the Israel Police officers from the Etzion police station in the West Bank and the IDF.
After her arrest, the suspect was brought in for interrogation.
Since then, an investigation has been conducted in cooperation with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and other intelligence agencies.
Suspect carried out assignments
According to the allegations, she not only maintained contact with an Iranian agent but also carried out various assignments on his behalf, N12 reported.
The Israeli police pointing towards the inside of a car. (credit: ISRAEL POLICE)
During questioning, she admitted to some of the charges and provided details about her connections with the Iranian agent and the tasks she had completed, according to N12. As the interrogation continued, she fully confessed to all the accusations.
At the same time, the Military Prosecutor’s Office requested further investigations, including technological tests and additional intelligence-gathering operations, to strengthen the evidence against her.
As a result, the Military Court extended her detention by eight more days to allow the investigation to continue, N12 added.