IDF launches election-day operation in Judea and Samaria, demolishes memorials honoring terrorists

As millions of Israelis headed to the polls Tuesday, the IDF, Border Police and Shin Bet launched another large-scale security operation in Judea and Samaria, focusing on the Nablus area and targeting suspected terror operatives, weapons and memorials honoring terrorists.

According to an IDF statement, the operation aims to apprehend suspected terror operatives and their supporters, confiscate weapons, ammunition and equipment intended for attacks against Israelis, and prepare for the demolition of terrorist memorials in various stages of construction.

The statement also denied reports that residents of Nablus or surrounding villages would be forcibly evacuated, as happened in Hebron and nearby areas following last week’s terrorist attack that killed Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem. The operation around Hebron remains ongoing, with troops from the Paratroopers Brigade and the Maglan commando unit participating.

Meanwhile, Palestinian media reports indicate that IDF forces have already demolished 10 memorials commemorating terrorists in the villages of Rujeib, Azmut, Madama and Iraq Burin, as well as the town of Beit Furik.

Memorial statues, plaques, posters and other displays honoring terrorists killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis have been a contentious issue for years. Although the Palestinian Authority has expressed a commitment to combating incitement against Israel, its security forces have largely ignored calls to remove the memorials. PA officials have also pushed back rhetorically against Israeli efforts to dismantle them.

The election-day operation comes amid a broader security crackdown in Judea and Samaria that has already seen intense friction between Palestinian and Jewish communities in the region. The IDF imposed a 24-hour lockdown across the West Bank beginning Monday evening to prevent interference with Israel’s national election.

High voter turnout reported across Israel

Meanwhile, election-day developments inside Israel have been marked by unusually high early voter turnout.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, the IDF reported that 30% of soldiers had cast their ballots, compared with 25.7% at the same hour during the previous election in 2022.

Israeli-Arab and Bedouin voters were also reportedly turning out earlier and in greater numbers than in previous elections.

A Times of Israel report from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev described an unusually large number of women and young people arriving at polling stations during the early morning hours. Many told the outlet they were voting for the first time, saying the rise of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party had galvanized them to participate.

Voters cited several reasons for their increased engagement, including a sharp rise in housing demolitions in Bedouin communities under the outgoing government, what they described as the failure of security services to address gun violence in the Arab sector, and the cancellation of funding and agreements established under the previous Bennett-Lapid government.

Led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, that government was the first to include an Arab party, Ra’am, in its governing coalition.

Many Rahat residents also recalled an incident during the 2015 election, when incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged supporters who had not yet voted to go to the polls, warning that “the Left” was driving Arab voters to polling stations “in droves”.

On Tuesday morning, some Rahat voters said Netanyahu and his outgoing coalition allies were now the ones motivating them to vote.

Reports from communities across Israel also described long lines at polling stations. Media outlets reported that more Israelis had voted earlier in the day than in any election since 1981.