A DOG'S TALE

Yonah Jeremy Bob is the Jerusalem Post's senior military correspondent.

In a piece he wrote about the IDF incursion in Jenin this week, I think he was too critical of the way it was carried out. 

He claimed that the operation “got out of hand   because dozens of Palestinians were wounded and five killed in order to arrest two suspected terrorists. The operation got out of hand because the IDF suffered seven wounded, because an armoured personnel carrier (APC) was badly damaged and because around seven vehicles were stuck for several hours before they were extricated.

On top of all that, Bob said that the operation also  got  out of hand because the IDF had to use a helicopter firing missiles.

“This is also far from the first operation in Jenin that went wrong.”

“Then, as Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin with their prisoners, a roadside bomb detonated next to one of the IDF’s Panther armoured personnel carriers.

Two soldiers and two Border Police officers were moderately wounded, while one soldier and three Border Police officers were lightly wounded.

The Apache gunships were called in to support the soldiers' evacuation, after the rescue helicopter came under fire. It was the first Israeli airstrike in the West Bank since the Second Intifada in 2002.”

Other news outlets described the clash without interpreting if and how the situation got out of hand: -

“Israeli soldiers were evacuated from Jenin by helicopter after coming under 'heavy fire' during a morning raid.

Israeli helicopter gunships struck targets in the Jenin area on Monday morning, after a deadly gun battle erupted during an IDF counterterror raid.”

“Israel used Apache attack helicopters in its Monday morning raid on Jenin, which killed at least five Palestinian terrorists and wounded 91.   

An Israeli military spokesman said that after a Panther APC was hit by an “unusual and dramatic” improvised explosive device (IED) detonated by Palestinian “terrorists, an Apache helicopter gunship fired in support of the Israeli force.”

“The security situation in parts of the West Bank has been deteriorating for some time, with Israel launching repeated incursions into Jenin over the last year. At least eight Israeli soldiers are believed to have been wounded in Monday morning’s raid, which went on for several hours.

In my humble opinion veteran military affairs correspondent Ron Ben Yishai described the Jenin confrontation accurately and to the point.

“The roadside bombing of an IDF Panther APC in Jenin was not a planned ambush, but rather a result of explosive charges set along exit routes. 

Inevitably, the terrorists in the Jenin area, particularly within the Jenin refugee camp, have devised effective tactics and strategies to counter the IDF’s raids and to impede counterterrorism operations. On Monday, they achieved this objective by detonating an explosive device that targeted an IDF "Panther" personnel carrier, transporting a team of Border Police and IDF special forces.

This was not a planned ambush but rather the use of one of the explosive devices that the terrorists had planted over the roads used by Israeli forces, in the past few months, particularly during raids on Jenin, its refugee camp, and places nearby.

The device was set off as troops were leaving the area after they succeeded in carrying out an arrest raid. After the explosion, light arms fire was directed at the vehicle from the outskirts of the camp.

The incident reveals that there has been no intelligence breach as to operational planning. However, over the past year the local terror cells have been meticulously studying the routes used by the IDF to enter and leave the area, Similar IEDs were found near Nablus as well.

Since the latter part of last year, Palestinian terrorists affiliated with Islamic Jihad and Hamas have been strategically planting explosive devices along the anticipated routes of IDF forces.

The placement of explosive charges primarily aims to inflict injuries on the departing forces once they have accomplished their mission in the area. This phenomenon is notably absent in other regions of the West Bank, where the presence and activities of the Palestinian Authority's security mechanisms and forces render a significant portion of the IDF's countermeasures redundant.

In contrast, the Jenin region continues to pose challenges as the PA's security forces have been unwilling or unable to take on the local militants leaving the IDF to gather intelligence and launch operations.

A senior IDF officer recently described the situation in the Jenin area as an ongoing and persistent challenge, stating, "Operation Breakwater that began on March 22 has turned into a Breakwater situation' that we have been dealing with for over a year."

Both Israel's security forces and Palestinian militants have developed and refined their combat methods to counteract each other. Last September, it became evident that the Palestinians had devised effective defence strategies against the IDF, Shin Bet, and border police's "deep penetration" operations.

They identified the routes used by Israeli troops to exit the area as vulnerable points and strategically planted explosive charges there. Initially, the charges consisted of improvised explosives with limited weight and power. However, in recent months, elite units have encountered larger charges weighing over 20 kilogrammes, which are activated remotely, often using cell phones.

The IDF has acknowledged the significance of this phenomenon. In response, the military took measures to protect the undercarriages of the jeeps and other operational vehicles used by special forces during deep operations in the Jenin refugee camp, the city of Jenin, and the surrounding areas.

Explosive charges are not a new phenomenon. The IDF has encountered them before, notably during Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2001

While they are less sophisticated and lethal than the IEDs  employed by Hezbollah in Lebanon, the widespread deployment of these relatively rudimentary explosives by Palestinian terrorists constrains the operational flexibility of the IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police.

Given the increasing use of explosives by terrorists, it is evident that the IDF needs to adapt its operational methods and employ tools that can effectively clear exit routes, thereby minimizing the risk to forces. It is expected that the sophistication and effectiveness of the explosives employed by Palestinian militants may continue to evolve, necessitating continuous adaptation and vigilance on the part of the IDF. and that the roads leading to settlements could also be subjected to such explosive devices.”…

“The IDF must develop and implement proactive intelligence-gathering methods and preventive measures on the roads in general, with particular emphasis on the areas surrounding the refugee camp and the city of Jenin.

While there is talk of a large-scale operation to foil the activity of the terrorists in the Jenin area, a complete occupation of the city and its surrounding may not be necessary thanks to the Shin Bet and the IDF's excellent intelligence capabilities, which enable them to effectively suppress terrorism and thwart terrorist attacks through targeted operations.”

In fact, that’s what happened yesterday when an Israeli drone struck a car carrying three Palestinian gunmen who had just opened fire at a checkpoint in the northern West Bank.

   An Elbit Hermes 450 drone

The strike, which the IDF said killed all three, marked the first targeted killings in the West Bank since 2006,

The IDF and Shin Bet said in a joint statement that the gunmen had opened fire at a checkpoint north of Jenin.

IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that three Palestinians were killed in the strike carried out by an Elbit Hermes 450 drone,

Hagari didn’t actually describe the incident as a targeted killing, but said it was about “removing a threat.”

“We identified a vehicle shooting at the checkpoint and removed the threat,” he said.

The Elbit Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium-sized multi-payload unmanned aerial vehicle. It has been upgraded continuously since it first came into service in 1998. A number of countries have purchased or hired this particular drone, mostly for surveillance purposes.

I want to conclude with a brief story about a dog.

A dog named Dago from the Oketz Canine special forces unit was evacuated  along with the wounded IDF soldiers and Border Patrol officers who were sent  to the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa. They were air-lifted from the battle in Jenin. While treating the soldiers in the emergency room, imaging personnel from Rambam and a veterinarian who conducts research at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine were called in for a comprehensive examination. They were joined by Dr. Y., a veterinarian of the Oketz unit.

The injured dog was found to be suffering from internal bleeding, and a fractured pelvis

Dr. Anat Ilivitzki, director of the paediatric radiology unit at Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital and an attending physician and radiologist in Rambam, performed a quick ultrasound examination on the dog that raised the suspicion of internal injury.

An emergency CT scan confirmed the earlier diagnosis that Dago was suffering from internal bleeding and a fractured pelvis. He is being treated accordingly and is recovering in a cot next to his handler’s bed.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

Beni,              22^nd of June, 2023.