A troubling and unusual surge in terror incidents has been recorded in the Binyamin region since the start of the operation in Iran, including the poisoning of cattle herds, a series of continuous arson attacks, and the placement of extreme threat letters by local terrorist cells near settlement points. Residents report: "The army is not attending to the incidents, only focusing on defense and maintaining the status quo."
Several exceptional terror events have occurred in the past week in the Binyamin region, coinciding with the fighting in Iran.
In the most recent incident, which occurred during the night (Thursday), a container with liquid poison was placed in the grazing fields of the Ma'aleh HaShalom settlement. It is believed that the perpetrators came from the village of Al-Mu’ayir.
Cows that were led into the field the following morning drank from the contaminated water and began showing signs of poisoning. Two cows died, and there is concern for other cows that may have been affected.
Earlier that night, a threatening letter was placed at the entrance to a settlement in eastern Binyamin, including an extreme verse from the Quran and a death threat to the residents. Along with the letter, a stone barricade was placed.
At the same time, residents are reporting a wave of arson attacks consistently carried out by Arabs, sometimes at the same locations and with the same methods every day. According to data from the field, in the past week alone, ten agricultural sites in Binyamin were set on fire.
In addition to the operational failures, residents are also warning about excessive retaliation against them: A resident of the Shilo bloc, who tried to protect his herd from rioters, was violently arrested by soldiers, beaten, and only released at night.
The settlement points are trying to cope with the surge in terror incidents, even establishing independent firefighting units to handle the massive fires. However, they admit that these are ultimately defensive actions only, and they criticize the security establishment, claiming they have been abandoned to handle the situation alone.
Itan Rabinowitz, head of the Binyamin volunteer firefighting unit, warned: "The feeling in all the recent events in Judea and Samaria since the start of the war with Iran is that the army is simply not attending to the incidents. Unlike after October 7, when the IDF sent a message to the enemy that anyone who raises their head would be shot immediately, in the past week the security establishment has been occupied only with defense and freezing the situation."
He added, "The Arabs in the surrounding villages are receiving incredible motivation from the images of missile strikes on the home front, and when they come to check the level of governance here, they encounter an army that is sending the opposite message of aggression and engagement. 'Less chaos' is their perspective. The events of the past week and particularly the last 24 hours show that if the brigade commander and the division general do not make a change, the situation will quickly deteriorate into dangerous territory," Rabinowitz warned.