Analysis: Well-organized groups numbering dozens emerge in northern West Bank refugee camps carrying out increasingly daring attacks that they can post of social media to entice more recruits
Iran's terror arm, closest to Israel is no longer the Hamas or the Islamic Jihad but the "battalions of terror" operating in the West Bank against civilians and security forces.
The initiative for localized terror squads or battalions, developed in the Jenin refugee camp in 2021-2022 and with time, and funding of millions of shekels a year, mostly from Iran, they grew. This investment has bolstered those initiatives that are well-armed thanks to weapons being smuggled across the Jordanian border.
Each battalion has its commanders and field operatives responsible for obtaining weapons and delivering them, money men and technicians responsible for the technical side of the operations. They install networks of cameras, to observe Israeli troop movements, and to post recorded battles on social media. The battalions also use local children as look-outs and to run errands for the terrorists. Then there are the actual fighters.
The battalions are made up of dozens of terrorists who seek to aggrandize their prowess and the reputation of the camp they represent. Most are young, and from lower social classes. Since the emergence of the 'Lion's Den' terror group in Nablus and their fame on social media, more young Palestinians want to join these groups because the popularity of their members is an important factor in their fight and their attacks are often posted on TikTok.
Security forces estimate there are 15 battalions currently active, mostly in the northern West bank. The most notorious are in the Jenin camp, In Nur A Shams near Tulkarm and in the Balata camp in Nablus.
They operate where there is no local government and where the Palestinian Authority struggles to enforce order. An attempt to create such a terror battalion in Qalqilya recently has been thwarted by security forces.
The terrorists are influenced by Hamas in Gaza and often use explosive devices in their attacks. Security officials say they observe attempts to copy Hamas practices: placing IEDs on roads leading into the camps, digging attack tunnels, launching rockets at Israeli communities across the border and infiltrating into settlements.
The relatively new change in the terrorists' tactics prompted Israel's security forces to recalibrate their strategies and to operate more aggressively than they had in the past. They have been criticized by some for inaction in the years 2021 to 2023, until the outbreak of war, which their detractors claim enabled the battalions to emerge. The IDF had been hesitant to use firepower on the West Bank so as not to prompt attacks from the terror groups in Gaza or Lebanon.
As terror attacks increased, the military's Central Command and the Shin Bet carried out targeted killings, deployed special forces to raids in refugee camps and often operated in them over days. Since January, the IDF carried out eight targeted killings in the camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus, most recently killing four terrorists in a drone strike in the Jenin camp.
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