A Telegram group called the Al-Ayash Battalion posted a video yesterday showing a rocket being launched from the Jenin area. A sign hanging on the launcher reads in Arabic that it is a Qassem-1 rocket launched at the "settlements near Jenin" and that the next launch will be "larger."
For the first time since the second intifada: IDF eliminates terrorist squad from the air in Jenin // Arab networks
A few hours after the video was published, the IDF admitted that it was indeed a rocket launch from the Jenin area. The rocket, according to the military's statement, exploded in Palestinian territory and posed no danger to communities in the area. "The security forces arrived to search the area, the incident is being investigated," the IDF said.
An initial examination by the IDF revealed yesterday that it was a home-made rocket that managed to fly only about 100 meters away, and was launched by a network affiliated with Hamas. The fact that the terrorist organizations in Judea and Samaria are trying to get their hands on rockets or manufacture them is not new, and to all clear.
The defense establishment is investigating: Was there an attempt to launch rockets from Jenin?// Arab networks
The defense establishment has noted for years that this is a primary target of the terrorist organizations, in light of their understanding of the significance of the rocket threat and the fact that their brethren in Gaza and Lebanon are thus succeeding in putting millions of Israeli civilians in bomb shelters.
A helicopter during an IDF operation in Jenin, photo: AFP
Last month, during Operation Shield and Arrow, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said that a squad that had created rockets in Jenin to launch them into Israel had been thwarted, adding, "We have no intention of turning Afula into a target for fire." Bar said at the time that the financing of the operations was Tariq Izz al-Din, a senior Islamic Jihad operative killed in the Gaza operation. The squad referred to by the head of the Shin Bet was arrested in April during an IDF operation in broad daylight in the Jenin refugee camp.
Rocket production in the West Bank is a high priority in Israel's intelligence IDF. Since the beginning of the second intifada, the Palestinians have tried several times to manufacture and fire rockets at Israel, but these attempts have failed. At this stage, these are quite primitive, self-manufactured rockets that cannot really pose a threat to Israeli citizens.
Islamic Jihad claims: This is the footage of the shooting at the community of Gan Ner on May 28// Arab networks
For example, in 2006, the Palestinians claimed to have fired rockets at Israel from northern Samaria on two separate occasions. The IDF claimed at the time that it was not aware of any attempts to launch rockets, and if such an attempt was made, the rocket did not take off. In 2008, a faction of Fatah's military-terrorist wing claimed that its operatives had fired a rocket at the settlement of Shaked, north of Jenin, but the IDF did not verify the report.
The attempt to manufacture rockets did not stop for a moment
Although in recent years we have heard less about such attempts, the defense establishment notes that the attempts by terrorist organizations to manufacture rockets in the West Bank have not stopped for a moment, and only thanks to Israel's freedom of action in the West Bank, and the fact that the Shin Bet closely monitors attempts to manufacture rockets in the West Bank, has development in the field been prevented in the West Bank.
The last time the Palestinians reported firing a rocket at Israel was last May 24, when a video was posted on social media reporting a successful launch, but then the defense establishment claimed it was pyrotechnics only.
Kfar Saba and Afula threatened
Rocket manufacturing is not rocket science, and ultimately, if terrorist organizations in the West Bank try hard enough, and Israel does not stop them, they will be able to get their hands on the necessary knowledge. But this takes time, and suffice it to mention that it took the Gaza Strip several years to reach its rocket capabilities.
But anyone who knows a little about the map of Israel and Judea and Samaria can understand what rockets will mean in Judea and Samaria. The ranges between West Bank cities and the centers of Israel's large cities are much shorter – Qalqiliya and Kfar Saba, for example, are very close to each other, as are Afula and Jenin. In Judea and Samaria, unlike Gaza, much simpler and short-range rockets are needed to get all residents of the center of the country into bomb shelters, and their effect may be no less than a suicide bomber with a large explosive belt.
Distance is less important than the threatening principle
This terrifying scenario is still far away, since at this time, the IDF ostensibly has full freedom of action in Judea and Samaria, and every night the forces enter Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps to arrest wanted persons and confiscate weapons. But there is no doubt that yesterday's rocket launch, even if it had a range of only 100 or 150 meters, brings Israel one step closer to a large-scale ground operation in the northern West Bank, in which forces will move between homes, confiscate weapons, destroy explosives laboratories and arrest wanted persons.
Blue and White Chairman and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said after the rocket launch: "I would like to tell you, Prime Minister, that on the whole issue of fighting terrorism, you and the government have full backing as long as you act responsibly and decisively. Today's rocket fire is another record in the escalation and daring of the terrorist organizations. As we did against the lion's den, as we always did when terror raised its head, we must remove the threat. By any means, with all the necessary force, and wherever necessary. The safety of citizens should be a top priority."
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