Israel SitRep: February 21, 2025

Today’s Issue: | Defense Minister After Attempted Bus Bombings: ‘We Will Hunt Down the Terrorists to the Bitter End’ | IDF Counterterrorism Operations in West Bank Continuing; Three More Battalions Deployed to West Bank | Six Living Hostages Slated to be Returned Tomorrow, Along With Four Hostage Bodies | The Mujahideen Brigades: The Salafi Terrorist Group That Held Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas | Latest FDD Analysis

Defense Minister After Attempted Bus Bombings: ‘We Will Hunt Down the Terrorists to the Bitter End’: After Thursday’s attempted bus bombings in Bat Yam and Holon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the IDF to step up its month-long West Bank counterterrorism operation, specifically in the Jenin refugee camp and other West Bank refugee camps. According to Katz, Israel “will hunt down the terrorists to the bitter end and destroy the terror infrastructure in the camps used as front line posts of the Iranian evil axis.” On Friday morning, Katz, in a visit to the Tulkarem camp, issued a warning to Palestinian prisoners released to the West Bank as part of Israel’s hostage deal with Hamas, stating: “we have our eyes on you, and will hunt down and eliminate everyone who is involved in terrorism.” Yoav Zitun, military correspondent for Israeli news website Ynet, notes that in the past few days, the IDF had withdrawn from five villages and finished its searches of buildings in the Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps, leaving one battalion in each location.

IDF Counterterrorism Operations in West Bank Continuing; Three More Battalions Deployed to West Bank: On Friday, the IDF published an update on counterterrorism operations in the West Bank, which have been going on for more than a month and are being conducted along with the Border Police and Shin Bet. In the past week, more than 90 terrorists have been detained and more than 15 firearms confiscated, along with other weapons. Last night, troops from the Duvdevan special forces unit arrested five in the village of Iktaba, near Tulkarem, and seized several explosive devices and guns from the building where the five were arrested. The IDF has blocked entry points in certain areas of the West Bank, stepped up activity in the area of the security barrier, and deployed three additional battalions in the Judea and Samaria sector. According to the announcement, the IDF is carrying out ongoing situation assessments and preparing to expand offensive operations if necessary.

Six Living Hostages Slated to be Returned Tomorrow, Along With Four Hostage Bodies: Hamas has officially announced that six hostages will be released tomorrow: Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed. The first four were kidnapped on October 7, while Mengistu and al-Sayed, who suffer from mental health problems, crossed into Gaza on their own, Mengistu in 2014 and al-Sayed in 2015, and have been held there ever since. The deal is set to continue despite the fact that Hamas failed to hand over to Israel yesterday the body of Shiri Bibas, instead handing over the body of an unidentified woman in violation of the hostage deal. According to Ynet, Israeli defense officials are considering retaliating for Hamas’s violation. Four hostage bodies are expected to be returned to Israel tomorrow as well. If all goes as planned, this will mark the end of the first phase of the hostage deal.

The Mujahideen Brigades: The Salafi Terrorist Group That Held Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas: On Friday, Ynet published a report on the Mujahideen Brigades, the Salafi terrorist group that held Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas after their abduction from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Israeli authorities believe the three were murdered the following month. The Mujahideen Brigades, established in 2001 during the Second Intifada, was at first part of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, then became a separate group, supporting “radical Salafi” beliefs. The first leader of the group, which over the years has conducted many attacks, was Omar Abu Sharia, who died six months after an Israeli assassination attempt in 2006. Hamas handed over some of the hostages it abducted on October 7, including three of the Bibas family members, to other terrorist groups, and according to Israeli intelligence, they were held in Khan Younis before their murder. While the Mujahideen Brigades claimed that an Israeli airstrike killed them, according to IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, “Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood. The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands,” then “committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.”

Latest FDD Analysis:

Today at 8:30am (ET): “FDD Morning Brief,” featuring Jonathan Schanzer and Max Meizlish, FDD Event

“Turkey Marginalized? How Trump’s Middle East Strategy is Rewriting Alliances,” Sinan Ciddi, 1945

“Egypt and UNRWA Were for Trump’s Gaza Plan Before They Were Against It,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, Middle East Forum

“Congress Moves to Spotlight Foreign Money on American College Campuses,” Natalie Ecanow, FDD Policy Brief

“Head of Iraq’s powerful pro-Iranian Popular Mobilization Units visits Tehran,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem’s “Martyr Leaders Day” speech,” David Daoud, FDD’s Long War Journal

“‘Grief Too Heavy to Bear’: Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages, Including Shiri Bibas and Two Sons, Returned to Israel,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Iran Charges British Couple With Spurious Espionage Charges,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Khamenei Urges Qatari Emir to Release Iranian Oil Revenues Previously Used for Hostage Negotiations,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Bombs Explode Prematurely on Tel Aviv Area Buses in Attempted Terror Attack,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief