A recent string of terrorist attacks in the West Bank has shaken the security picture and reinforced the IDF’s assessment that the area still contains large numbers of weapons, terrorists and, above all, people willing and intending to carry out attacks.
Following the shooting at Ein Raya spring in Binyamin, where Netanel Shukrun was killed shortly before Yom Kippur, the IDF increasingly believes the terrorist acted alone. His interrogation by the Shin Bet is expected to focus on how and where he obtained the weapon and whether anyone helped him before or after the attack.
The IDF and the broader security establishment are now entering the Sukkot holiday at one of their highest levels of readiness in recent years. Thousands of visitors, hikers and families are expected to travel through tourist sites, settlements and major roads across the West Bank in the coming days.
Within hours of the spring attack, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered major reinforcements across the sector. The goal set by Central Command and the General Staff is to prevent the current violence from developing into a broader escalation.
The IDF has been warning for weeks of a significant deterioration in the West Bank. The issue has featured prominently in security cabinet discussions and led to a series of large-scale exercises involving regular and special forces.
One of the clearest signs of the heightened preparations is the decision to position an additional division headquarters as reinforcement. In the event of escalation, the extra headquarters would assume responsibility for the sector from Jerusalem southward, allowing the West Bank Division to concentrate its personnel and resources on the most volatile areas.
Raids, drones and attack prevention
Even during Yom Kippur, the IDF said forces acting on Shin Bet intelligence thwarted a significant attack planned by two Hamas-affiliated terrorists in Qabatiya.
In a separate brigade-level operation in Biddu, the town from which the terrorist who carried out the spring attack emerged, forces searched 100 buildings, questioned 90 suspects and found a hunting rifle.
Duvdevan troops operating in Beit Ur al-Tahta located what the military described as a weapons-production workshop, two improvised Carlo submachine guns and additional weapons. In the Menashe sector, Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit troops questioned suspects, arrested wanted men and found materials intended for manufacturing explosives.
Netanel Shukrun and the captured terrorist
(Photo: courtesy of the family)
The West Bank Division is also placing increased emphasis on the threat posed by drones. Forces are confiscating drones and have instructed Palestinian security forces to take action on the issue as well.
In Southern Command, pressure on Hamas and efforts to target senior figures are expected to continue, based on incoming intelligence and resources allocated by the Air Force, Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet.
Northern Command, meanwhile, is maintaining preparations along the Yellow Line following the demolition of underground infrastructure on the Ali Taher Ridge. IDF forces have already conducted drills and prepared positions from which they will secure the area. Commanders assess that the immediate period of heightened tension surrounding the demolitions has passed, but forces remain prepared for any Hezbollah violation.
‘Thank you for giving me my life’
Hundreds of people gathered overnight at the cemetery in Alei Zahav to bury Netanel Shukrun, who was killed at Ein Raya spring in Binyamin hours before Yom Kippur began.
Shukrun, a high-tech worker employed as an information systems analyst at Hachshara Insurance Company, is survived by his wife, Merav, and six children. His eldest son, an 11th-grade student, had accompanied him to the spring. His youngest child is 4.
At the graveside, the family stood together during the traditional tearing of garments.
Yoav, Shukrun’s 16-year-old son, who escaped the attack after his father warned him, thanked him in his eulogy.
“Dad, I want to say thank you for 16 years together,” he said. “Thank you that during the attack, when the terrorist came in, you shouted to me. I don’t remember what you said, and I ran. Thank you for giving me my life, thank God I survived, and I want to tell the family that we will keep going together and it will be OK.”
Shukrun's funeral
(Photo: Haim Snau for the Samaria Regional Council)
His daughter Talia recalled realizing through news reports that her father and brother had been at the spring.
“At 11:36 I heard on one of the channels that there had been an attack at a spring near Neve Tzuf,” she said. “At first I didn’t make the connection, but then I realized it was the spring you were at. I went to Mom and asked her to check where you were, and you didn’t answer. From that moment our lives changed.”
Merav, Shukrun’s wife, described him as the person who would normally help prepare her before she spoke in public.
“I’m supposed to be used to speaking in front of an audience, but not one like this,” she said. “Before I give a lecture I’m prepared, and Nati would go over the presentation and make sure I knew the material. I don’t have that possibility now.”
Shukrun had gone to Ein Raya spring with his 16-year-old son to immerse before Yom Kippur. After returning to his vehicle, the terrorist opened fire, killing Shukrun. His son was unharmed.
According to details emerging from the investigation, the terrorist, Qadri Samara, a 37-year-old Hamas terrorist, had passed through the area of the spring the day before the attack. Investigators suspect he took advantage of the large number of people who come to immerse there before Yom Kippur, arrived by car and opened fire at Shukrun’s vehicle.
A tracker from the Binyamin Brigade who was nearby in an armored vehicle returned fire and wounded the terrorist, preventing him from continuing the shooting and saving Shukrun’s son.
The attacker fled and reached a clinic in Ramallah for treatment. Duvdevan troops later entered the clinic, found him lying in a bed and arrested him.
The initial investigation indicates that he acted alone.