Palestinian Terrorists Storm Israeli Checkpoint Near Jerusalem

Latest Developments

Palestinian terrorists stormed an Israeli security checkpoint on the Bethlehem-Jerusalem road on November 16, wounding at least six people. The three assailants — two armed with pistols, the third with an M-16 — were killed by Israeli counter-fire in the incident. Police said the terrorists reached the site from the West Bank in a car with fake license plates.

There was no immediate claim for the attack from Palestinian terrorist groups, which have stepped up West Bank hostilities in solidarity with the Hamas war on Israel from the Gaza Strip. But The Times of Israel reported that the Shin Bet security agency named two of the assailants as “Hamas member Abdelqader Qawasmeh, 26, and 28-year-old Hassan Qafisha, who is affiliated with Hamas and whose father was the head of the terror group’s military arm in Hebron until he was killed in 2003. The identity of the third gunman was still under review.”

Expert Analysis

“This was a significant attack, involving three gunmen working in concert rather than a ‘lone wolf’ stabbing of the kind seen in Jerusalem two weeks ago. It is possible that the efficacy of Israel’s preemptive security sweeps in the West Bank is eroding or that Hamas is redoubling efforts to kill Israelis there as it witnesses its Gaza base crumble.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“Before the massacres of October 7, Israelis were already experiencing the deadliest year of terror attacks since 2005, most of the attacks emanating from the West Bank. The Jewish state must defend its citizens in the north, the south, and the east. Without constant vigilance, Israel’s enemies will reenact the events of October 7 again and again.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network

“For anyone who believes the Palestinian Authority is a turn-key solution for Gaza governance, every passing day of West Bank terrorism is a reminder of the PA’s pay-for-slay program and its failure to prevent Iran from establishing another front in the so-called ring of fire around Israel.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“IDF Battles Palestinian Terrorists in West Bank City of Tulkarm,” FDD Flash Brief

“War Goal Is Destruction of Hamas, Not Gaza Occupation Says Israel,” FDD Flash Brief

“10 Things to Know About Hamas,” FDD Insight

“Iran and Its Network of Nineteen Terrorist Organizations on Israel’s Borders,” by Joe Truzman