A bombing attack was prevented on Tuesday near the community of Esh Kodesh in the Shiloh area.
A resident of one of the hilltop encampments in the area, who was en route to the community, noticed a PLO flag suspiciously placed on the community's back gate.
Thanks to the high alertness and the lessons learned from similar incidents in the past, the resident took extra caution and noticed an activation cable leading from the flag to an explosive device placed nearby.
The resident immediately contacted the community security coordinator, and within minutes, security forces arrived and closed off the perimeter. Police explosive ordnance disposal experts were dispatched to the scene and neutralized the threat before it could harm anyone.
The incident joins a series of terror incidents launched from the nearby village of Qusra, known as one of the most hostile locations in the area.
In the past, the village's environs were the scene of two mob attacks on hikers who survived miraculously. Recently, the level of violence has increased drastically.
The residents also claim that the worsening security situation is related to the arrival of far-left-wing activists to the village several weeks ago, and that since then, the friction between the parties has increased and become daily.
This is the second time within two weeks that terrorists have attempted to carry out a roadside bombing attack using an explosive device against Israelis along a traffic route in the Shilo Bloc area. In the previous incident, the terrorists placed a dummy device; this time, it was an active and dangerous pipe bomb. Bomb disposal experts who arrived at the scene examined the findings, identified the explosive device, and neutralized it on site. There were no casualties in the incident.
In recent weeks, several attempts have been recorded to harm Israelis in the area, alongside attacks against shepherds and residents. The communities note that some of these incidents are later presented in a one-sided manner as “settler violence," while ignoring the repeated attempts to harm Israelis on roads and in the surrounding areas.
Governor of the Binyamin Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, Yisrael Ganz, stated: “When such an incident happens again, it is not an isolated event - it is a method. Once again, an explosive device is placed along a road, once again an attempt is made to harm civilians, and once again it ends in a miracle. In recent weeks we have seen an increase in attempts to harm residents and shepherds. This is attempted murder in every sense of the word, and I expect the IDF to act forcefully against the village, to reach those behind this, and to prevent the next attack. We must not wait for a disaster in order to act."
