While the security concept shattered on October 7, another threat is now challenging it again in the heart of Israel. A towering structure rises above the Arab city of Qalqilya, adjacent to Kfar Saba, overlooking all traffic on the adjacent Highway 6 and beyond. How is a building still standing from which any terrorist holding appropriate weapons—and there are plenty of those in Judea and Samaria—could open fire on Israeli civilians?
If you drive Highway 6 from north to south and look left near Qalqilya in ‘Palestinian Authority’ territory, beyond the fence, you’ll spot a massive building—a concrete monster that towers clearly, distinctly, and unusually above all surrounding structures. Most troubling: it rises above the separation barrier and commands a deeply disturbing view of Highway 6—and could also command it with gunfire.
The specs of this monster, as we’ve learned in the past day, contain disturbing facts: The building stands about 30 meters tall, while the fence reaches only about 9 meters. Distance from the building to the separation barrier: about 200 meters. Distance to Highway 6: about 300 meters.
In other words: any terrorist holding appropriate weapons—and there are plenty of those in Judea and Samaria—could use various methods:
- Light weapons fire
- Sniper fire
- RPG rockets and (regular) rockets that we’ve already seen exist in the area in the past
Any such method that could be deployed from this site could easily hit targets at these ranges.
The building, as can be seen and understood, commands a view not only of the highway but far beyond it. There are many questions that need answers about the feasibility of executing these methods, the surveillance control over civilians and forces moving on the highway, and the possibility of intelligence gathering from the structure against Israel.
There’s also the question of the possibility of paralyzing this critical artery with fire, perhaps even during an emergency. Is this a trial balloon by someone on the other side? Testing to see what Israel will do about such buildings? Many questions that currently have no answers. We tried today to get a response from the IDF Spokesperson about this story and the threat in question—which poses a genuine danger to life—and as of this moment, that response has not been received.