The operation included clearing vegetation along Route 60, where the terrorist used dense olive groves to escape, leading to the uprooting of thousands of trees. The IDF justified the move as an urgent security measure to expose hidden enemy movements, while also conducting arrests and searches that resulted in the attacker’s capture two days later.
IDF operation in the West Bank
The Thursday attack left a shepherd with minor injuries, prompting IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth to conduct an initial on-site review with brigade commander Col. O. and other officers.
“Every village and enemy must know that attacking residents will bring a heavy price—curfews, sieges and shaping operations,” Bluth said. “We’ll use the forces allocated to us, focusing now on Al Mughayyir, which has launched several recent attacks. We’re zeroing in on this village.
“This message will reach them too. If a village wants to be highlighted by launching a terror attack—we know how to act.” His “operations” refer to altering the landscape, a tactic also seen in ongoing missions at Nour Shams, Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps, where hundreds of homes were demolished and new roads opened.
“Bluth’s framing of Al Mughayyir as collectively responsible for the attack, justifying the uprooting of thousands of trees as vengeance to deter other villages, violates international law and will only fuel Jewish terror in the West Bank,” he claimed. The forum urged an immediate halt to the operation.
After Israeli outlet Haaretz’s publisher Amos Schocken called Bluth a “war criminal” on X, demanding his arrest by the UN’s top court over the tree felling, the IDF condemned the “unwarranted remarks” against Bluth without naming Schocken.
The military insisted Bluth acts on operational grounds and within legal bounds, prioritizing Israel’s and its citizens’ security. “Any other claim lacks foundation,” they said.
The IDF also noted an 85% drop in terror incidents in the West Bank this year, though recent months have seen rising clashes between Jewish shepherds at farm outposts and Palestinians, often escalating into violence and terror attacks.
