Israel thwarted an attempted by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist cell to produce rockets and a launcher in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank in recent weeks, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar revealed during a press conference on Tuesday evening.
Bar stressed that Tareq Ezzaldin, a spokesperson for the PIJ who was assassinated by the IDF in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, had been attempting to replicate terrorist capabilities in Gaza to the West Bank and Israel.
According to Bar, Ezzaldin directly organized 20 terrorist cells who aimed to murder Israelis, including the cell who attempted to produce rockets. Ezzaldin provided the cells with knowledge and funding.
"We have no intention of turning Afula or Shaked into a target for indirect fire," said the Shin Bet chief. "Most of the activity to thwart these cells is not known to the public, but it is known to us and the risk is known to us and illustrated every day."
Ezzaldin additionally recruited a number of individuals from the Ramallah area and provided them with funds to purchase weapons, including a quadcopter to use in attacks against Israeli civilians. The terrorist cell recruited by Ezzaldin was arrested, thwarting the attack.
Bar stressed that these thwarted cells are just a few examples of Ezzaldin's "terrorist enterprise," adding "we have no intention of waiting defensively for threats, but are always acting on the offensive against those sending them, in the Kasbah in Nablus, as happened again this morning, in Gaza City and anywhere else in the Middle East."
"It is important to say, the PIJ is an organization that is fully funded by Iran. The hands are the hands of Palestinians, the voice is the voice of Iran," added Bar.
Operation Shield and Arrow continues
Bar's statements came during a press conference after a meeting of the security cabinet concerning Operation Shield and Arrow, which broke out after the IDF assassinated three senior PIJ terrorists in Gaza on Tuesday morning.
The senior terrorists assassinated in the IDF strikes included: Ezzaldin, Khalil Bahitini, the commander of the al-Quds Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, and Jihad Ghanem, secretary of the movement's military council.
They were all killed almost simultaneously, within minutes of each other, by a mix of around 40 aircraft and drones.