The killing of five terrorists in Jericho indicates the expansion of the organizations’ areas of operation

Overview

• On January 28, 2023, two shooters attacked a restaurant at the Almog Junction (south of Jericho in the Jordan Valley), then drove away towards Jericho. No casualties were reported. The Israeli security initiated a search for the terrorists. After the attack, the Israeli security forces oversaw and monitored the region, surrounding the city of Jericho with roadblocks and checking the vehicles leaving, causing traffic jams. The security measures were condemned by the Palestinians, who called them a “siege” and “collective punishment.”
• On February 4, 2023, IDF forces entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho to detain the Palestinians who shot at the restaurant. The forces met with violent opposition, riots and gunfire. The wanted terrorists were not found but 15 suspects were detained, one of them a Hamas operative. The Palestinian media represented the security forces’ as having been forced to leave the refugee camp by the “resistance” of the local residents, claiming the IDF activity had been a “failure.”
• Two days later, on February 6, 2023, IDF forces entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp again. A gunfight developed during which five Palestinians were killed, including the two who had shot at the restaurant. Only scant information was issued about them. Hamas claimed all five were operatives of its military wing, but did not claim responsibility for the attack. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed one of the operatives and he was apparently the only one of the five who had any “military” training.
• The security force activity in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp was atypical because until now the Jericho area, which is under the full control of the Palestinian Authority’s security services, was known as relatively quiet. The activity exposed a new local network, which calls itself the Aqabat Jabr Refugee Camp Battalion. It operates in the refugee camp and is subordinate to the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing (although the PIJ claims the network’s founder was its operative). The existence of an armed network in Jericho joining the networks in Jenin and Nablus may indicate an attempt to extend terrorist attacks in the Jordan Valley area, part of the efforts of the established Palestinian terrorist organizations to incite an armed uprising against Israel in Judea and Samaria.
• The appearance of the network and Hamas’ claim that the Palestinians killed in the refugee camp belonged to its military wing may indicate a Hamas effort to establish a presence in the Jericho region and a network like the PIJ’s Jenin Battalion, Nablus Battalion and the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (AAMB)-affiliated Lion’s Den network, which operate in the cities in northern Samaria. Jericho’s location, close to Jerusalem and the Jordanian border and on the main road through the Jordan Valley, increases its importance for the Palestinian terrorist organizations and the need for the Israeli security forces to prevent the construction of a terrorist infrastructure in the area.

The Events

The shooting attack

•  On January 28, 2023, two armed Palestinians drove to a restaurant at the Almog Junction, south of Jericho in the Jordan Valley. There were about 30 people in the restaurant at the time. One of the Palestinians began shooting but his gun jammed and only one bullet was fired. No casualties were reported. The two sped away and a search for them was initiated. The IDF reported the two had planned a mass-casualty attack (IDF spokesman, January 28, 2023; Israel HaYom, February 6, 2023).

The IDF intensifies security in the Jericho district

• After the attack the Israeli security forces oversaw and monitored the Jericho region, surrounding the city with roadblocks and tightening procedures for checking cars vehicles leaving, with the objective of locating the terrorists who carried out the attack. The traffic jams caused by the procedures made headlines in the Palestinian media. PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh and the PA foreign ministry called the activities a “siege” and “collective punishment,” claiming they violated international agreements and calling on the United States to intervene (Wafa, February 4 and the PA foreign ministry website, February 5, 2023).
•  Hamas issued an announcement condemning the “siege” of Jericho, claiming it was a “crime” and “collective punishment” that violated all human norms and values, and a desperate attempt to break the Palestinians’ firm stance and the determination of the young revolutionaries. Hamas praised the Palestinians who stand firm in Jericho and the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, and called for others to support them, and to attack IDF forces and settlers “throughout the homeland [sic]” (Hamas website, February 5, 2023).

   
Traffic jams in the Jericho region (Wafa, February 1, 2023).

IDF activities in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp

February 4, 2023

• On the morning of February 4, 2023, IDF forces entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, near Jericho. They raided several buildings to find and detain the two Palestinians who carried out the shooting attack at the Almog Junction. The forces met fierce opposition from a mob of masked local Palestinians, who shot at them and rioted, incited to further violence by the mosques’ public address systems (IDF spokesman, February 4, 2023). According to reports, several wanted Palestinians barricaded themselves inside a mosque and others in one of the buildings. When the activity in the refugee camp began, the IDF sent SMSs to local residents instructing them not to leave their houses and to keep their children inside to prevent innocent people from being harmed (Israeli media, February 4, 2023).
• The wanted Palestinians were not apprehended, but 15 armed terrorist operatives were detained, including Shakr Amara, a high-ranking Hamas operative in Aqabat Jabr. He was one of the Palestinian terrorists exiled to Marj al-Zahour in Lebanon^[1] and detained more than 13 times by Israeli security forces (Israeli media, February 6, 2023). The Palestinian media made political capital out of the IDF announcement regarding its failure to find the two wanted terrorists, calling the activity a “failure” (al-Massira.net, February 4, 2023).

•   The Palestinian media reported that 13 Palestinians were wounded, three of them seriously. The director of the prisoners’ club in Jericho reported that nine Palestinians had been detained, seven of whom were later released (Wafa, February 4, 2023).

   
Right: Israeli security force activity in Aqabat Jabr. Left: The building surrounded by IDF forces (Wafa, February 4, 2023).

   
Palestinians riot in Aqabat Jabr (Right: QudsN Facebook page, February 4, 2023. Left: Rafat Darasheh’s Facebook page, February 4, 2023).

• Fatah spokesman Monther al-Hayak called the events in Jericho a message from the Palestinian people, who would continue to “struggle along the path to freedom.” He called on all the [terrorist] organizations to unite and widen the “struggle” [increase terrorist attacks] (al-Ghad, February 4, 2023). The PIJ claimed Israel would pay a high price for its actions (al-Massira.net, February 4, 2023). Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said they “saluted” the young Palestinians who had bravely “resisted” [attacked] the IDF raid and prevented it from achieving its goal (Hamas website, Fatah bureau of mobilization and organization 4, 2023).
• Political commentators noted that areas that so far had been relatively calm had joined the “struggle,” and the “resistance activities” [terrorist attacks] in the new districts lowered the pressure on the regions which were “already burning,” such as Jenin and Nablus, and strengthened the “vision of a comprehensive intifada” (al-Risalah, February 5, 2023).

February 6, 2023

• Before dawn of February 6, 2023, IDF forces again entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp to apprehend the two terrorists who carried out the shooting attack. After searching a number of sites without finding them, the soldiers were shot at from the building where the terrorists were hiding. A gunfight ensued in which five Palestinians were killed, including the two terrorists who carried out the attack (see the Appendix). Weapons found at the site included M-16 assault rifles, vests with shrapnel grenades in their pockets, ready for throwing, either during a confrontation with IDF forces or in preparation for another attack. Before the forces left the refugee camp armed Palestinians clashed with them again. An IED ready for detonation was neutralized by the IDF (Israeli media, February 6, 2023).

   
Right: The building in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp where the terrorists were hiding (Wafa, February 6, 2023). Left: Some of the weapons seized in the activity in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp (IDF spokesman, February 6, 2023).

The Aqabat Jabr Refugee Camp Battalion

• During the two days of IDF activity a network calling itself the Aqabat Jabr Refugee Camp Battalion, a sub-group of the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, announced it had begun operations. The network boasted it had caused the security forces to retreat without achieving their goals (Shehab and the Aqabat Jabr Refugee Camp Battalion Telegram channel, February 4, 2023). The AAMB and PIJ operatives and Hamas military-terrorist wing operatives all claimed to have clashed with the IDF (AAMB Panther’s Telegram channel, February 4, 2023).
•   Social media users expressed satisfaction with the appearance of the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades’ new local network, claiming it showed the organizations’ “resistance” [anti-Israeli violence and terrorism] was spreading throughout Judea and Samaria. Some expressed satisfaction that it had spread to Aqabat Jabr, not far from the PA’s notorious prison in Jericho (aka “the slaughterhouse”), where Palestinian prisoners are tortured (Shehab, February 4, 2023).

   
Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades terrorist operatives in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp
(Shehab, February 4, 2023).

• According to the PIJ’s military-terrorist wing, the network was established by Thaer Awisat, who was killed in the Israeli security force activity (Jerusalem Brigades website, February 7, 2023).

Palestinian reactions

• Mahmoud Abbas’ office condemned the “new crime carried out by the Israeli security forces (“the Israeli occupation forces”), which led to the deaths of five Palestinians and the wounding of others. According to the announcement, the “crime” in Jericho challenged all recent international efforts to stop Israel’s “aggression.” It added that the international silence in the face of Israel’s “violations and crimes” encouraged it to “slaughter more Palestinians,” and called on the international community, especially the American administration, to intervene and exert pressure on the Israeli government to stop its “dangerous escalation” and keep the region from more violence and tension, and provide the Palestinians with international protection (Wafa, February 6, 2023).
• Muhammad Shtayyeh condemned the “crime” and called on the UN to provide the Palestinians with protection and not allow the “criminals” to avoid punishment. He claimed that the Israeli security forces (“the soldiers of the occupation”), feeling they could avoid punishment, and given that they wanted to kill, since their behavior was that of criminals in any case, continued “slaughtering defenseless Palestinians,” and the scenes of their actions were “reminiscent of the despicable crimes carried out by Zionist gangs against Palestinians [sic] in the cities and villages in 1948” (Wafa, February 6, 2023).
• At the weekly government meeting Shtayyeh called “Israeli aggression” a “serious crime” which had claimed the lives of more than five shaheeds and led to the wounding and detention of others. There was a need, he said, for the international community to do something immediately to stop the “crimes.” He claimed Israel’s “oppressive measures” would not deter the Palestinians, and the PA government, standing beside the residents of the Jericho district, would provide them with everything they needed (Wafa, February 6, 2023).
• The PA foreign ministry strongly condemned the “heinous crime” and ongoing “siege” of Jericho. The ministry claimed Israel was fully and directly responsible [for the situation on the ground], and the ministry expressed its great surprise at the silence of the international community (PA foreign ministry website, February 6, 2023).
• Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, claimed the “resistance” [Palestinian terrorist organizations] would continue as “lord of Judea and Samaria” and Hamas’ military wing would continue working with all the Palestinian “revolutionaries” until Israel (“the invaders”) retreated from “Palestinian land.” He said the “heroes” of the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp fought until they fell, defending their lands and holy sites, writing an epic of heroism in the camp, whose title was “resistance and return.” He remarked that Israel would enjoy no peace or quiet (Hamas website, February 6, 2023).
• Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua said the blood of the shaheeds had not been shed in vain, the “resistance” [terrorist organizations] promised a response and Israel would pay the price. He claimed killing shaheeds would not stop the “revolution” but only intensify it, and an operative who had been killed would be replaced by another (Hamas website, February 6, 2023).
• Husam Badran, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, said the blood of the five Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades operatives had not been shed in vain, Hamas was proud of them and they were a beacon lighting the way for the “men of the resistance” [terrorist operatives] (Shehab, February 6, 2023).
• During a demonstration organized by Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the IDF activity, Suheil al-Hindi, a member of Hamas’ central office, threatened that Hamas’ military wing and the “resistance” [other terrorist organizations] would avenge the deaths [of the operatives killed in Aqabat Jabr] and that the “Zionist enemy” would be sentenced to execution, because Israel understood only the language of force (al-Aqsa TV, February 6, 2023).

• Fatah’s media information and cultural commission said in an announcement that the “slaughter” carried out by the security forces would not frighten the Palestinians, who would continue their “struggle” [terrorist attacks]. According to the announcement, “the bloody slaughter was an expression of the Israeli government’s fascist ideology,” which attempts to use terrorism to export its internal crises (Wafa, February 6, 2023).
• Gaza Strip-based Tareq Izz al-Din, PIJ spokesman for Judea and Samaria, said Israel’s “new crime” would not frighten the Palestinians and their “resistance fighters” [terrorist operatives] (Daffa_media Telegram channel [the PIJ’s Telegram channel in Judea and Samaria], February 6, 2023).

Appendix

The Palestinians killed in Aqabat Jabr

• Jihad Abu al-Assal, governor of the Jericho district, reported the deaths of five Palestinians on February 6, 2023, shot before dawn by Israeli security forces operating in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp. He said Israel was holding their bodies (Wafa, February 6, 2023). In the afternoon the ministry of health in Ramallah published their names (ministry of health in Ramallah Facebook page, February 6, 2023). Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua claimed all five were operatives in the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing (Hamas website, February 6, 2023). A different report claimed they belonged to the Aqabat Jabr Refugee Camp Battalion (Bassem al-Makati’s Facebook page, February 6, 2023).
• The Jericho municipality issued a mourning notice with pictures of the five. Hamas issued a mourning notice for the death of five operatives of its Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades in Jericho; however, Hamas did not claim responsibility for the shooting attack at the Almog Junction.

   
Right: The mourning notice issued by the Jericho municipality. Top row, left to right: Ibrahim Awidat, Rafat Awidat, Malek Lafi; lower row, left to right. Thaer Awidat, Adhem Awidat (Jericho municipality Facebook page, February 6, 2023). Left: The mourning notice issued by Hamas (Hamas website, February 6, 2023).

• Not much information was issued about the Palestinians killed. From what was made public it can be said they were all residents of the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp and two (Rafat and Ibrahim Awidat) were brothers. At least four of them had no “military” experience. The fifth, who, according to PIJ claims, belonged to its ranks, was apparently the only one with experience and, according to the claim, had established the Aqabat Jabr Refugee Camp Battalion.
• Published information about the five includes the following:
  • Ibrahim Wa’el Awidat, 27 years old. He studied at UNRWA schools in Aqabat Jabr (aljazeera.net, February 6, 2023).
  • Rafat Wa’el Awidat, 21 years old. One of the terrorists who carried out the shooting attack at the Almog Junction. He studied at UNRWA schools in Aqabat Jabr, and worked at a hotel. He was summoned for interrogation by the PA security services a number of times (aljazeera.net, February 6, 2023).

  
Left: Rafat Awidat; right: Ibrahim Awidat (Facebook page of Awadat1948, which represents itself as the official al-Makati Facebook page, February 6, 2023).

•  Malek Awni Lafi, 22 years old. The other terrorist who carried out the shooting attack at the Almog Junction. He graduated from high school and supported his family by working as a chauffeur. He was summoned for interrogation by the PA security services a number of times (aljazeera.net, February 6, 2023).

• Adhem Majdi Awidat, 22 years old.

•  Thaer Awidat, 28 years old. The Jerusalem Brigades, the PIJ’s military-terrorist wing, claimed him as the founder of the Aqabat Jabr Refugee Camp Battalion, which it claimed was a Jerusalem Brigades sub-group, and that he was killed along with Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades operatives (Jerusalem Brigades website, February 7, 2023).

^[1] On January 1, 1992, 314 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists were exiled to Marg al-Zahour in south Lebanon for periods of between a year and a half and two years. Israel shortened the period of exile, bowing to international pressure. The exiles used the time in Lebanon to form contacts with Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods Force. From within the two Palestinian organizations leaders came forth who led Palestinian terrorism against Israel during the 1990s and 2000s. Some of them continue their activities today in the ranks of the terrorist organizations. ↑

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