The IDF said it was preparing to enter the West Bank town of Qabatiya, the hometown of a Palestinian terrorist who carried out a deadly rampage in northern Israel, as forces reinforced security along the seam line between Israel and the West Bank and conducted assessments across multiple sectors.
The attack came about a month after the launch of Operation Five Stones in northern Samaria. The terrorist, identified as Ahmad Abu al-Rub, 37, a resident of Qabatiya, had entered Israel several days earlier without authorization, Israeli officials said.
The scene of the attack at Tel Yosef
(Video: Gil Nechushtan, Israel Moshkovitz, from social media)
He went on to kill two people in a combined ramming and stabbing attack: 68-year-old Shimshon Mordechai in the city of Beit She’an and 19-year-old Aviv Maor of Kibbutz Ein Harod Ihud near the entrance to Kibbutz Tel Yosef. A teenage boy and another man were wounded.
Authorities said the attacker fled toward the city of Afula in a truck he was suspected of having taken from his employer before being neutralized. IDF troops were dispatched to the attack site in Beit She’an, and the military said additional units were reinforcing the seam line between Israel and the West Bank and preparing for possible operations in Qabatiya.
“All terrorists must be located and thwarted, and the terror infrastructure in the village must be struck,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said. “Anyone who assists, shelters or backs terrorism will pay the full price.”
Operation Five Stones lasted 10 days, ending Dec. 5, and began in a cluster of villages in northeastern Samaria — Tubas, Tammun, Far’a, Tayasir and Aqaba — before expanding to Jenin and Qabatiya, where Israeli forces have continued to operate in recent weeks. The military activity included raids, arrests, disturbances and clashes with Palestinian youths.
Palestinian reports said Israeli forces used live fire, tear gas and stun grenades during the incursions, resulting in injuries and deaths, including a teenager whose family said he was not involved in fighting at the time he was killed.
Palestinian officials and residents have described Qabatiya as part of an “open arena” in the northern West Bank, similar to the Jenin refugee camp, citing a rise in arrests and what they describe as an intensified sense of siege.
Palestinians have pointed to this environment as fueling heightened tensions and the recent emergence of lone-wolf attacks from the area. Following Friday’s attack, calls circulated on local social media in Qabatiya urging residents to prepare for a possible military raid, including by stocking up on bread, food and medicines.