Netanyahu: 'Larger front' could open in Judea and Samaria amid Hamas war

(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last Wednesday that security officials are aware that a “more intense front” could open in Judea and Samaria amid the resumption of heavy fighting with Hamas in Gaza.

“Because while we are waging an intense war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, we are aware of the possibility that a larger and more intense front could open here in Judea and Samaria,” the premier said during a visit to the Border Police’s undercover “Mista’arvim” special forces unit.

“They are simply doing holy work for the State of Israel. This is important at all times, but it is especially important now,” Netanyahu told officers.

He added, “The work of the Border Police’s units, the Israel Police, the IDF and the cooperation of these forces with our special units—this brings many, many results for your security, citizens of Israel.”

During the visit, Netanyahu received a security briefing regarding developments in Judea and Samaria from Chief Supt. “K.,” who leads the undercover unit.

The prime minister was said to have been shown “unique operational and tactical capabilities” of the special forces, as they carried out drills simulating scenarios faced during counterterrorism operations against Palestinians throughout Judea and Samaria.

Netanyahu was accompanied by his chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, his military secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman and spokesperson Omer Dostri, along with other senior Israeli security officials including Police Commissioner Daniel Levy and Border Police commander Brik Yitzhak.

Last week, Hebrew media reported that the Israel Defense Forces was putting together a bank of targets to be attacked by the Air Force in the case of a potential Oct. 7, 2023-style terror attack in Judea and Samaria.

The plan would see IAF fighter jets, drones and helicopters bomb access roads to Jewish towns in the area, as well as other strategic targets, to slow down the terrorists’ advance, according to Israel Hayom.

Israel’s security forces have intensified operations throughout Judea and Samaria following the Feb. 20 failed bus bombings outside Tel Aviv. Three empty buses exploded, and bombs were found on two others in what is being investigated as a large-scale coordinated terror attack.

More than two in three Israeli Jews fear that Palestinian terrorists based in Judea and Samaria could launch a significant terrorist attack similar to Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, according to a survey the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs published last month.

In September, Israeli authorities filed an indictment against a member of a terrorist squad based in Jenin who planned to infiltrate Jewish civilian communities in Samaria and carry out an Oct. 7-style attack.

The indictment accused Osama Bani Fadl and other terrorist operatives of making serious preparations for a mass slaughter of Jewish residents of northern Samaria, including by infiltrating villages with vehicles.

The terror cell reportedly also planned major attacks inside the town of Ma’ale Efraim in the Jordan Valley, and a drive-by shooting and large car bombing at the gas station outside Eli in southern Samaria, a location that was targeted twice by Palestinian terrorists over the past two years.

Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 6,343 times in 2024, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO on Feb. 17.

Twenty-seven Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2024, and more than 300 others were wounded, the group said in its annual report.