Reporter's Notebook: Israeli forces detain terror suspects in overnight ops in Bethlehem

The IDF conducted a series of overnight raids late Monday night and into early Tuesday morning in areas around Bethlehem. During the operation, troops detained wanted individuals, interrogated dozens of suspects, and searched and found weapons and incitement materials, the IDF said.

The Jerusalem Post accompanied the soldiers during raids on several multistory residential buildings.Troops combed several neighborhoods, searching for suspects. Female combat soldiers took up positions in alleyways and went door-to-door in the precision operation.

It was biting cold as the forces looked for and successfully detained the suspects in the dead of night. The streets of Bethlehem were quiet, with only the barking of a few dogs audible as the troops moved quietly from place to place.The IDF conducts this type of operation often to keep terrorists in check and make it clear that Israel’s security forces are one step ahead of its enemies.

The raids were aimed at sites in Aida and Azza, neighborhoods north of Bethlehem that emerged from refugee camps established in the 1950s.

Refugee camps in Bethlehem and other areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have often been recruiting grounds for terrorist groups, including Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Challenging areas 

These areas present a challenge because the buildings often have multiple entrances and numerous small apartments with what seems like endless locked iron doors to a warren of courtyards. Soldiers have to navigate all this while keeping watch down alleyways and overhead for threats.

The soldiers, part of the Etzion Brigade, prepared for the operation prior to 12 a.m. at a base in Gush Etzion. They included members of the Tavor Battalion of the Search and Rescue Brigade, which includes numerous female combat soldiers.

I accompanied them. Most of the soldiers were women, carrying their M-16 rifles and moving quickly to reach their objectives and search for suspects. The operation was accompanied by reservists from the 8208th Infantry Battalion.

During the operation, we saw how soldiers work as part of a small team to search for suspects. All of this was conducted prior to sunrise, with the goal being to detain the suspects as quickly and quietly as possible during the night.

This reduces friction and contact with the civilian population in the area. It also means that those affected by the raid are mostly residents of the buildings where the suspects live.

In our case, the soldiers often had to knock on several doors to find the suspects they wanted. When the young men were found, they were escorted to a waiting military vehicle before being taken to a central collection point, where other detainees from various raids in the area were also taken.

These kinds of routine operations are designed to keep terrorist groups and threats in check by remaining one step ahead of them. The area of the Etzion Brigade’s operations, which includes Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns, has not seen the kind of increase in terrorist threats that have occurred in the northern West Bank.

It wasn’t always like this, though. In decades past, there were numerous terrorists who took up positions in Beit Jala in the Second Intifada and operated from camps such as Dehaishe, Aida, and Azza in Bethlehem.

These days, things appear relatively quiet due to the operations that the soldiers are conducting.

The full story will appear in this weekend’s Magazine supplement.