Udai Al-Azzi, the head figure of the “Lion’s Den” terrorist group based in Nablus, turned himself in Friday morning to the Palestinian Authority after immense pressure from the Israel Defense Forces and Israel's federal security service, Shin Bet. Yesterday, it was reported that Israel is considering a move to return to the policy of targeted assassinations, and Palestinian militant groups were working to protect their leaders.
Al-Azzi is suspected of being involved in a series of terrorist attacks against Israelis in Samaria and has led shooting attacks in person as well. Al-Azzi remained one of the last prominent figures in the Lion’s Den network after the majority of his peers have already been arrested or killed in gunfights with Israeli forces.
In December, IDF troops from an elite unit along with the Shin Bet arrested Ahmed Masri, who served as an aide to the senior squad leader Ibrahim Nabulsi, who was killed a few months earlier in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces who were in the midst of a military operation in Nablus. It is worth noting that both Nabulsi and Masri were younger than 20 years old, and despite that have been documented to have participated in terrorist attacks against Israelis for a number of years.
Udai Al-Azizi, a leader in the Nablus-based Lions' Den terrorist group, turned himself into the Palestinian Authority's security forces. He reportedly did this out of fear that he would be killed by Israeli security forces. https://t.co/jzNbRJQAmU
— Ari Ingel (@OGAride) April 28, 2023
In October of last year, four activists from the organization turned themselves into the security forces of the Palestinian Authority. One of those who turned themselves in is Muhammad Al-Banna, another leader of the terrorist group and the administrator of the group's actions. Al-Banna, who was involved in shooting attacks against IDF forces and against settlers at Joseph's Tomb near Nablus, had already escaped an Israeli assassination attempt before he turned himself in.
The recent events that have turned the Lion’s Den into a much lesser threat, appear to be a result of the heavy pressure exerted by the Israeli authorities both on members of the terrorist organization and the PA. The four who turned themselves admitted to doing so in fear that the Shin Bet would get to them as well.
Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority territories within Judea and Samaria remain extremely hostile towards Israelis, with the strong influence of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Ayatollah Khamenei's official Twitter account: "The Palestine of Oslo has turned into the Palestine of the Lions' Den."
— dana (@dana916) April 5, 2023
*The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and Yaser Arafat.*
ResistanceTrench pic.twitter.com/R0g4Ap2hkf
An IDF spokesman said after the Al-Azizi had turned himself in and said: "The period after Ramadan is going to be complex and dangerous, the restraining factors are no longer there. During Ramadan we lower the operational activity in the depth of the hostile territories, the IDF goes into operational activities only when there are 'ticking bombs' and as a result, there is less friction."
