Israel Hayom reports that “The IDF believes that not only will a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip not apply to Judea and Samaria, but on the contrary, releasing terrorists and murderers as part of a deal to release the hostages, certainly if some of them return to Judea and Samaria, may give tailwind to terrorism and incite the region.”
After the massacre on October 7th, support for Hamas in Judea and Samaria significantly increased, when the terrorist organization proved to be "successful" in a major terrorist attack that led to the release of terrorists.
The ray of light, says the Shin Bet, is that almost six months after October 7th and ten days after the beginning of Ramadan, the Palestinians have not awaken en masse and there are no significant civil disturbances.
The IDF believes that as economic pressure on Palestinians in Judea and Samaria increases, whether because the Palestinian Authority has not paid its workers or because Israel has stopped workers from entering Israeli territory, some will be looking for other solutions to make a living, and to that end they may turn to terrorism.
It is no surprise that Iran and other terrorist organizations understand this and are trying to inject a significant amount of terrorist funds into Judea and Samaria, some of which have been seized by the IDF in special operations – thanks to special networks established for this purpose in the Central Command, which have greatly improved the fight against terrorist funds and incitement.
The Shin Bet recognizes that the motivation on the ground to carry out attacks is very high, and that despite successes in thwarting major attacks, both the IDF and Shin Bet admit that it will never be possible to thwart one hundred percent of the attacks, and prevent them all.
As a rule, the top echelons of the Shin Bet support the deal to release hostages, with the understanding that they cannot currently be released in any other way. So far, Israeli security forces have managed to release only three hostages by force, but despite the strong desire to reach a deal, not every price will be accepted by the security leadership.