Army soldiers returned to Shechem early Thursday morning in the second counter terrorist operation in two days. At least one terrorist belonging to the Fatah-aligned Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades was killed, and the Arab Al Jazeera network reported that two were shot dead.

The IDF actions were aimed at terrorists who were planning imminent attacks on Israel. The Palestinian Authority (PA) previously has objected to the counter terrorist operations, claiming that the presence of the soldiers in Shechem reduces the authority of recently deployed PA security forces that were trained by American military envoys to the Middle East.