Before examining the implications of the IDF’s two-day special counter-terrorism operation in Jenin, here are the outcomes as a result of IDF activities in and around the area of operation;
- 300 terror suspects were questioned, and of them, 30 were arrested.
- 14 apartments used for terror activities and control rooms were identified and demolished.
- 6 bomb-making labs were destroyed
- 300 ready-to-use explosive devices were neutralized by the IDF.
- 10 landmines, 24 M-26 rifles, 8 handguns, hundreds of bullets, tens of kilograms of chemicals for preparing explosives, 6 tunnel shafts, and 2 hidden weapons storage centers were all uncovered. Dozens of kilograms of chemical materials for making explosives were confiscated.
- Hundreds of thousands of terror funds were confiscated.
- 0 Palestinian civilians killed
- 12 Palestinian terror operatives killed
- 1 IDF soldier killed
These numbers are a testament to the IDF’s ability to enter a deeply hostile, heavily populated sector filled with explosives, IEDs, and terrorist gunmen, a hornet’s nest of terrorism, and to exit without harming noncombatants with only one IDF soldier killed.
A simple explanation can be the fact that the terrorist gunmen of Jenin made the decision early on to go into hiding after losing their motivation to confront the IDF’s elite units, who were coming at them from multiple directions, and were backed by UAV air power. Hence, the operation focused on weaponry and less on terrorists.
There is reasoning behind this. It looks like during the past decades, IDF developed counter-terror techniques that don't include features of a military ground campaign that we have seen in other arenas like Gaza and Lebanon in the past. Such as artillery cannon fire and tank maneuvers. This is one of the reasons why the IDF was able to keep this operation so surgical and precise. However, this operation was tactical and not broad in scale also in regard to its goals, and this is important to keep in mind for future scenarios.
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