The IDF is in the final week of preparations for its planned ground offensive to capture Gaza City, the Hamas stronghold, but the past 24 hours highlighted the strain of operating on multiple fronts.
Six civilians were killed in a terror attack at Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction, four soldiers fell in fighting on the edge of Gaza City and drones launched from Yemen tested Israel’s air defenses.
Terrorists open fire at commuters at Jerusalem's Ramot Junction
(Video: IPdome)
Military officials expect Yemen’s Houthis to continue launching attacks and possibly escalate as Israel presses ahead with Operation Gideon’s Chariots II in Gaza in the coming months. The overlap with violence in the West Bank has already prompted the call-up of reserve battalions to reinforce forces there.
Alongside preparations in Gaza, the army’s top brass has turned attention to Israel’s northern border and the “third circle” of threats from Iran and its allies. Both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir issued statements underscoring the widening scope of the war.
Visiting the West Bank village where the Ramot Junction attackers lived, Zamir ordered a full lockdown of the area. “We are here after a very severe attack. I directed a complete closure of the area from which the terrorists came. We will continue determined and ongoing operational and intelligence efforts, pursue terror nests everywhere and thwart their infrastructure and organizers. We must learn, investigate and draw lessons,” he said.
He added that the army was pressing forward across all fronts. “We are in the middle of an intense day of operations in every sector. We are expanding the effort to defeat Hamas, acting offensively and proactively everywhere,” Zamir said.
Netanyahu, speaking from the Air Force command bunker, hailed the demolition of 50 so-called “terror towers” in Gaza in just two days but also addressed the Jerusalem attack that killed six. “This is a difficult day in our war against terror,” he said. “Two despicable terrorists came to a bus stop, fired at a bus and murdered six of our precious citizens. Eliminating the terrorists is not enough, going after their supporters is not enough. My directive is to strike terror nests with full force. We have already destroyed terror infrastructure in three refugee camps by clearing out the population and flattening the buildings. That same directive will apply to additional terror nests.”
On Gaza, Netanyahu said the current strikes were “only a prelude” to the main ground maneuver. He warned civilians still inside Gaza City: “I take this opportunity — listen carefully: you have been warned. Leave now.”
Israeli security officials said Monday they are investigating the deadly shooting attack at Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction, where six civilians were killed earlier in the day. The victims were identified as Sarah Mendelson, Rabbi Mordechai Steintzeg (known as “Dr. Mark”), Rabbi Yosef David, Yaakov Pinto, Yisrael Metzner and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Pash.
According to details collected so far, the two attackers apparently crossed into Israel on Monday morning through a known breach in the security fence around Jerusalem, often used by illegal laborers, carrying improvised Carlo submachine guns. Officials said there had been no prior intelligence warning about the attack or the pair’s preparations. Neither was previously known to security services.
Breached the border fence and killed six civilians
Initial assessments indicate the attackers acted as a small, local cell of lone assailants without clear organizational affiliation. In response, the IDF reinforced the Binyamin Brigade, responsible for the Ramallah area, with an additional battalion and several special forces companies.
Since the morning, Israeli forces have encircled the West Bank villages of Qatanna and al-Qubeiba, the attackers’ hometowns, and imposed a curfew preventing residents from leaving their homes. Such measures are rare in the West Bank, more associated with the second intifada, though they were recently applied in the village of al-Mughayyir. Troops are conducting house-to-house searches for weapons to disrupt potential copycat attacks.
Meanwhile, the army and police are also preparing for possible reprisal violence by Jewish extremists overnight, following a string of such incidents in the Ramallah area in recent months. “We are in a volatile period in the West Bank, because of the upcoming ground maneuver in Gaza and the approaching holidays,” a military official said. “We will act deep in the field against Hamas efforts to challenge us and raise its head in the West Bank.”
Stormed an IDF outpost, four soldiers killed
The IDF said Monday that four tank crewmen were killed in a Hamas guerrilla attack on an army outpost on the outskirts of Gaza City in the northern part of the strip.
The victims were identified as Staff Sgt. Uri Lamed, 20, of Tel Mond; Sgt. Gadi Cotal, 20, of Kibbutz Afikim; and Sgt. Amit Arye Regev, 19, of Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut, all members of the 52nd Battalion of the regular 401st Armored Brigade. The name of the fourth soldier has not yet been released.
The incident began around 6 a.m., when a three-man Hamas squad reached the vicinity of the outpost near Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. Terrorists threw an explosive device into a manned tank stationed outside the fortification, killing the four crew members inside. The attackers also fired at the tank commander. Another soldier from the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion was moderately wounded in the leg during the exchange of fire.
The terrorists did not enter the outpost; the encounter took place at its entrance. Initial findings indicated the tank crew was alert and had been conducting scans of the area, as part of the army’s standard “dawn readiness” procedure, and had returned only an hour earlier from a night raid. Troops inside the outpost opened fire to repel the squad, striking at least two of the terrorists. One attacker was confirmed killed, while others apparently escaped. The army said there was no attempt to abduct soldiers.
The military is investigating whether the attackers infiltrated through an undetected tunnel nearby. Commanders at the outpost were also awake at the time, engaged in a situation assessment meeting.
Hamas has in recent weeks concentrated efforts on launching guerrilla raids against Israeli outposts in Gaza, hoping to catch soldiers fatigued or unprepared. On average, officials said, such attempts occur about once a week, usually ending with the terrorists being pushed back or killed.
Since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, 904 Israeli soldiers have been killed, 460 of them since the ground offensive in Gaza began roughly three weeks later.
After hitting Ramon Airport, three Houthi drones downed
Also on Monday, the IDF said three drones launched from Yemen were intercepted in southern Israel, a day after a Houthi drone struck Ramon Airport near Eilat, injuring several people and causing damage to the terminal.
In the afternoon, between 5:30 and 5:40 p.m., alerts of possible drone infiltration were activated in several communities near the Dead Sea and Gush Etzion, including Mitzpe Shalem, Ma’aleh Rehavam, Kfar Eldad, Nokdim, Tekoa, Sde Bar, Efrat, Neve Daniel and Beitar Illit. The army initially said the object was being tracked by the air force but later confirmed it was a false alarm. Ben Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport continued to operate normally.
Houthi drone strikes Ramon Airport near Eilat
(Video: Fire and Rescue Services)
Earlier in the day, the air force intercepted one drone launched from Yemen over the Arava region and two others near Dimona, nearly 24 hours after the strike on Ramon Airport. Residents of Eilat filmed interceptor launches, with alarms sounding in Be’er Ora, Elifaz and the Timna mines area. After a chase, all three drones were brought down.
The IDF confirmed that three drones launched from Yemen had been intercepted in total. Following the interception near Ramon, debris fell in an open area close to the airport. Police said bomb disposal teams were examining the site to determine whether it was a drone impact or interceptor fragments. The Airports Authority stressed that Ramon Airport itself was not damaged.
The Houthis claimed responsibility, saying the three drones were aimed at Ben Gurion Airport, Ramon Airport and a “sensitive” target in Dimona. They noted this was the second consecutive day Ramon Airport had been targeted.
On Sunday, a Houthi drone hit Ramon’s passenger hall, lightly wounding two airport employees — a 63-year-old man injured by shrapnel and a 52-year-old woman who fell — while others were treated for shock. Magen David Adom paramedics treated the injured at the scene before evacuating them to Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat, along with six others lightly hurt, three of them suffering from shock.
A preliminary air force probe found that the drone which exploded at Ramon had been detected by defense systems but was not classified as hostile, so neither interception systems nor alarms were activated. The IDF said there was “no indication of a technical failure in detection systems.” Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar is expected to review the incident in the coming days.