In a joint press conference by the Israeli Prime Minister and the heads of the security establishment Tuesday evening, the Shin Bet chief Ronan Bar revealed as part of the reason for the attack yesterday that took out three Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza, that one of their terror cells was working to build & fire rockets from Jenin toward Israeli territory, thereby importing Gaza's terrorist methods into Judea and Samaria. According to Bar, the plans were foiled. "We see this as a dangerous precedent. We have no intention of turning Afula or Shaked [Israeli townships] into a new target," Bar said.

At the end of the meeting of the Security cabinet, which convened specifically in light of the sensitive security situation in the south of the country and following Operation Shield and Arrow, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement to the media. The press conference was also attended by Defense Minister Yoav Galant, Shin Bet chief Ronan Bar and Chief of Staff Major General Herzi Halevi who all also gave a statement to the media.

Rockets from the West Bank?

Head of the Shin Bet internal security agency reveals that Israeli security forces recently foiled a terror cell based in Jenin planning to launch rockets from the West Bank into Israel, posing an unprecedented threat that prompted recent army raids pic.twitter.com/InF5NS1fmZ

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) May 10, 2023

Netanyahu said that "early this morning, the State of Israel carried out a determined, decisive and justified action. In Operation Shield and Arrow, the Israel Defense Forces eliminated the senior leaders of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. These murderers are responsible for the rocket attack on our territory last week, and for directing many terrorist acts in Judea and Samaria. On top of that, we attacked key terrorist infrastructures of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. I'm talking, first and foremost, about the destruction of weapons factories, ammunition, and rockets.”

"Since the beginning of the year, we have thwarted over a hundred terrorists, whose hands have killed Israeli citizens; including the murderers of the women of the Dee family, the children of the Yaniv family, and also the women of the Hatuel family from over 19 years ago. Our troops acted bravely and at their own risk, to settle accounts with these bloodthirsty men I salute them, the entire nation of Israel salutes them," said the Prime Minister, adding that the operation is not yet over.

Israeli security chief: We thwarted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror cell in Jenin making rockets to fire at Israel - under the direction of one of the senior Islamic Jihad operatives killed overnight. https://t.co/TaldYQN0Hn @timesofisrael

— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) May 9, 2023

"We are in the middle of a campaign. In the coming days, we will all need patience and endurance. A week ago, when we made the decision to initiate the 'Shield and Arrow' operation, Together with the Minister of Defense, I instructed the IDF and the defense establishment to prepare for any scenario of escalation, and possibly more than one. Tonight I say to our enemies: any escalation on your part will be met with a crushing response on our part. And I want to say one more thing: we are all standing in this battle together as brothers.”