Terror tunnels of the West Bank
By Justine Hemmestad
My friend Major Itamar Ben David is intensely occupied with IDF duties again in the West Bank this week, which he says are “very intense.” Indeed, the current operation is the largest that Israel has seen in the West Bank in years.
The similarity of people not being told much about the terror tunnels and military operation in the West Bank, with the people of Webster County not being informed in totality about the carbon pipeline and eminent domain is significant - suppression of the most important facts happening on both sides of the world.
To provide background, Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, though the Palestinians want all three territories.
Major Ben David says, “The West Bank is on the brink. There is a real possibility of a second intifada-like war against the Palestinians. Currently, the general in charge of the West Bank is launching preemptive raids on Palestinian cities in Judea and Samaria to weaken and eliminate as many terrorists as possible, aiming to ensure that the Israeli government can decide the right moment to strike Lebanon without fearing simultaneous conflict in Judea and Samaria.”
In the current operations focused on rooting out terror, the IDF located a Hamas “command room” embedded in a mosque, inclusive of supplies used to make explosives.
Hamas additionally repeatedly calls for Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up against Israel.
In 2017, the Southern Command “established a technological laboratory for locating tunnels, which includes experts in various fields who analyze the information collected by the system.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that, “In the two years before the discovery of the tunnels in the north, there were many residents who complained, but at first they were not believed,” recalled Dr. Richemond-Barak, a senior lecturer at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at Reichman University.”
She says, “There is no doubt that this is serious work, but there is a difference between saying it will take a long time and not being aware of the threat.”
The tunnels of the West Bank underline the effort of Iran to weaken the Jordanian kingdom.
Iran is attempting to recreate what the tunnel system they were behind in Gaza in order to flood weapons into the region.
In fact, Iran’s influence, strategy, and assistance is all over the West Bank tunnels.
So much terror happens in those tunnels. On September 1, Major Ben David said, “six young Israelis who had been kidnapped on October 7 and survived 11 months in captivity were tragically murdered by Hamas. Their bodies were discovered by IDF forces on Saturday. It is believed that Hamas, sensing the approach of IDF forces, chose to eliminate the hostages in an attempt to pressure the Israeli government into withdrawing from its position on the ‘Philadelphia corridor,’ which is essentially the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.”
To further explain the situation, Major Ben David continues, “Hamas will not agree to any deal that does not involve an Israeli withdrawal and the end of the war, allowing them to regain control of the Strip.”
Citizens of Israel demonstrated on September 2 in order to apply pressure on their government to make a deal with Hamas that would bring their hostages home. However, Major Ben David says that it’s important to know that the protestors’ stance is not the majority opinion in Israel.
The deal they call for is much too risky to the security of Israel.
Major Ben David stresses the frustration that Israelis feel in regard to their government as well. “Israelis on both sides of the political spectrum are frustrated with them [the government] - because they keep Israelis in this limbo for far too long.”
For the betterment of Israel as a whole, the country cannot, “compromise on anything less than the complete elimination of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). Israel must no longer negotiate with jihadists—not in Gaza, not in Judea and Samaria, not with Hezbollah, Syria, or Iran. The war is against the barbaric Islamic Jihad that has devastated, and continues to devastate, primarily Arab and Muslim countries, as well as entire societies in Asia, Africa, and now Europe.
“For Israel to continue to exist as a democratic Jewish state, Hamas must not be allowed to survive this war under any circumstances. A deal now that leaves Hamas intact could lead to future attacks from Lebanon, including kidnappings of Israelis, with the victims disappearing into Iran via Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. This would mean that future victims would vanish without a trace.”
With the extensive network of tunnels in Hamas’ employ, this is a very real possibility.
Major Ben David has additional personal connections with the murdered hostages, as well.
Ben David says, “After October 7, I discovered that one of the abductees, Carmel Gat, 40, who is among the six who were murdered, [and I] actually volunteered in the same organization, in the same year that I volunteered for pre-military service, working in Tel Aviv while I was in the Be'er Sheva area, volunteering as a teacher in Bedouin Arab schools.”
He adds, “Another abductee who was found murdered was the brother of my friend. For me as an Israeli, this is not a theoretical issue. The practical consequence of compromising with jihadists will result in the future loss of many lives—people whose faces and names we do not yet know. Women and men, adults and children, Israelis and non-Israelis, Jews and non-Jews—all potential victims who could be kidnapped by Hezbollah and taken to Iran, or barbarically slaughtered in the streets of cities like Nahariya, Acre, Kiryat Shmona, and others.”
Ben David says that, “many, probably the majority of Israelis, are interested in crushing our enemies totally so that we can get our Galilee back, some (like me) even call for annexing territories in Gaza and Lebanon as a punishment for the jihadists. It's not a majority view but I can tell you- more and more Israelis understand now that this is the only way to punish the jihadists and show them that this way [of terror, kidnapping, and murder] - will lead them nowhere.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, criticized the UN for ignoring the Israeli hostages that are being held by Hamas in Gaza.
“Since October 7th,” Danon tweeted, “Iran has been actively working to smuggle sophisticated explosive devices into Judea and Samaria, intended for use in suicide bombings in the heart of Israeli cities.
“The State of Israel will not sit idly by and wait for scenes of buses and cafes exploding in city centers. The IDF’s operations in Judea and Samaria have a clear goal: preventing Iranian terror-by-proxy that would harm Israeli civilians.”
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