Duvdevan Unit forces arrested a senior Fatah terrorist in a targeted raid in Tulkarm on Monday. According to intelligence, the suspect was involved in advancing terrorist activity, planning and executing attacks, and trafficking weapons. The arrest comes amid a series of operations by Israeli forces in recent weeks against terror infrastructure in northern Samaria and the Menashe sector.
Israeli forces entered Tulkarm as part of a focused operation and arrested the wanted terrorist, who serves as a senior operative in the Fatah terror organization. According to information provided, he was involved in advancing terrorist activity, planning and executing attacks, and trafficking weapons. The arrest joins a series of targeted operations recently carried out by special units and Israeli forces against cells and wanted individuals in the northern Samaria sector.
Just last week, Israeli forces in Samaria thwarted a terror cell of ten operatives identified with Hamas. The operation involved fighters from YAMAM, the Duvdevan Unit, and forces from the 890th and 50th battalions. All ten cell members were arrested, and weapons were found in their possession, including an M16 rifle and materials used to manufacture explosive devices. Alongside these, an especially unusual find for Judea and Samaria was also seized—a rocket.
The operation was launched after operational conditions matured, following an intelligence warning and after a Shin Bet intelligence investigation that lasted several months. During the operation, after one of the terrorists was interrogated in the field, he led forces to a field near the village. There he dug near one of the trees and pulled out a bag containing explosives used to manufacture bombs as well as a disassembled M16 rifle. Sappers destroyed the explosives on site and the weapon was confiscated.
The rocket seizure has additional significance against the backdrop of attempts exposed in recent years to develop high-trajectory firing capabilities from Judea and Samaria. In September 2025, the Shin Bet, IDF, and YAMAM exposed a cell in the Ramallah area engaged in manufacturing rockets and even attempted to launch an improvised rocket from the village of Ni’ma in the Binyamin region. In October of that year, 14 additional rockets were found, some of which were ready for launch.
The Tulkarm operation also comes after the thwarting of another terror cell in Jenin. In a targeted nighttime operation, YAMAM fighters arrested three terrorists who were suspected of planning to carry out a major attack in northern Samaria in the immediate timeframe.
According to information provided at the time, the three terrorists were described as members of a trained cell. Following intelligence received by the Shin Bet, YAMAM fighters were rushed to the Jenin area, completed a rapid combat procedure, and launched the arrest operation. The fighters raided the building where the suspects were hiding, broke into it, and arrested all three before they could arm themselves. They were then transferred for continued Shin Bet interrogation.
The IDF said following that operation: “Tonight, YAMAM fighters—Israel’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit, operated with precise intelligence guidance from the Shin Bet and under the leadership of the Menashe Brigade to arrest suspects in terrorist activity in Jenin who were suspected of planning to carry out an attack in the immediate timeframe. A force of YAMAM fighters arrived at the building where the suspects were hiding, broke into the building, and arrested the three suspects. The suspects were transferred for continued interrogation by the Shin Bet.”
According to another publication from that incident, authorities were investigating suspicions that the cell intended to assassinate Defense Minister Israel Katz during a dedication ceremony for the Ganim community in northern Samaria, which was attended by other senior Israeli officials. Alongside this, the possibility was also examined that the terrorists planned to raid the new community and carry out a massacre there.