The deadly terrorist attack on an IDF post near Tayasir in the West Bank once again illustrates how illegally smuggled rifles are fueling the terrorist insurgency that is gripping the northern West Bank. While the IDF has launched Operation Iron Wall, designed to increase raids on the terrorists in places like Jenin, the enemy is also better armed than in the past.
Several years ago, there began to be an uptick in threats in the northern West Bank. These spread from Jenin, where Palestinian Islamic Jihad is present, to Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqilya and other areas. It also flowed towards the Jordan valley via Tubas, Tamun and also small historic refugee camps such as Al-Fara.
While the IDF tried to break the wave of attacks, the wave increased between 2023 and 2024. Most of this was fueled by illegally smuggled rifles, primarily M-16 types.
The presence of the rifles is clear from what the IDF often finds in the wake of attacks, or sometimes during raids in places like Jenin. The rifles are not the only problem. The terrorist groups are also building up more arsenals of improvised explosives and other weapons.
However, it is the rifles that largely underpin the terror growth. The rifles can be seen at every parade of terrorists and are found often after clashes. They make the terrorists more deadly because a terrorist armed with an M-16 and a modern sight and ammo will be able to do more damage than a terrorist armed with a knife or home-made weapon, as was more common in the past.
The terrorists are well equipped not just with M-16 type rifles but also modern sights and tactical gear and accessories for the rifles. In addition, the terrorists are becoming more proficient in the use of the rifles. It is not clear where all the rifles come from but it is noticeable that they are almost all M-16 types, not AK-47s.
This means their source is a country that uses this type of rifle or they are smuggled from a place where the US or western partners exported M-16 type rifles. Tracing the weapons could have an affect of reducing the terrorist wave. In fact the problem of the rifles is bigger than just the attacks. The rifles are helping the terror groups confront the Palestinian Authority forces who are often less well armed than the terrorists.
IDF Warr. Ofc. Ofer Yung killed in the attack
In the attack on February 4, the IDF named reservist Warr. Ofc. Ofer Yung as one of the victims of the attack. Another soldier was also killed. The incident started around 6:00 a.m. and shows the terrorist and whoever was likely helping him plan knew the area. The IDF also said that two reservists in the 8211th Battalion of the Efraim Regional Brigade were severely injured, and a further six reservists were lightly injured.
The terrorist is reported to have approached the area on foot early in the morning, according to a separate report on Ynet. “According to the investigation, the terrorist approached on foot, wearing a military vest equipped with an M-16 rifle and two magazines,” the report said. These rifles are so common now in the northern West Bank that they are seen in the hands of teens who join terror groups. A teen named Majd Zidan from Jenin was seen in an image in December 2024 with an M-16 type rifle, for instance.
Operation Iron Wall is important but it will not stop the rising terror threat unless the increased number of smuggled and stolen M-16 type rifles flowing the West Bank is stopped.