A new front for Palestinian terror is opening up in Israel’s Gilboa region as residents reveal growing levels of attacks from Jenin and the northern areas of the Palestinian Authority.
“This is a national problem, not just our private problem. We won’t allow turning our homes in Gan Ner into another otef community, this time around Jenin,” Gidi Ovadia, deputy chairman of the Gan Ner community council, told The Press Service of Israel. Otef refers to the Gaza border region where Hamas attacked more than 20 Israeli communities on October 7.
“It is becoming more intense. This cannot be accepted as normal,” Ovadia said.
Gan Ner, a community of approximately 700 families, sits on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. As one drives along Gan Ner’s outlying roads, a picturesque pastoral valley scene unfolds until concrete barricades at the side of the road abruptly come into view. On the other side of the barricades lie greenhouses in the adjacent Palestinian Authority.
These barriers protect a Gan Ner kindergarten where more than a dozen children are currently inside playing. The outer wall of the small kindergarten building bears holes resembling bullet marks, though the kindergarten owner is uncertain of their origin.
“A week ago, there was a very tense situation here. We heard a burst of gunfire, and I immediately brought the children inside until the security checked and clarified what was happening. We stayed indoors. It’s terribly frightening, and it’s very sad that this is the situation,” Eti, the kindergarten owner, told TPS-IL.
After frequent shooting incidents from the Jenin area targeting Gan Ner and the nearby community of Ram On, the Gilboa Regional Council erected concrete walls along the exposed firing lines. In the past two weeks, several concrete walls were placed in Gan Ner. Within a week of this reporter’s visit, Eti’s kindergarten was fully barricaded.
Gunfire From the Greenhouses
Gidi Ovadia, who is also a retired Deputy Chief, and former commander of the Jenin sector in the Border Police, explained to TPS-IL the situation.
“We see greenhouses being built near the border fence on the other side, tents being set up just 400-500 meters from the fence, and they are not being removed, although that’s where the fire definitely comes from,” he said, pointing to a cluster of greenhouses visible from the point of the road in front of the kindergarten.
Gan Ner has been the target of gunfire originating from the Palestinian Authority even before October 7. But since that date, the live fire attacks have become more frequent.
Image - TPS