An attempted terror attack occurred on Tuesday morning on the Meirav kibbutz in the Gilboa area of northern Israel.

Terrorists opened fire at a house on the kibbutz and then fled the scene. B’Chasdei Hashem, there were no injuries but the house was damaged.

Following the attack, the kibbutz issued a statement saying: “Good morning. The fire at the Meirav kibbutz from the village of Jalbun has resumed. A short while ago, there were several bursts of gunfire at the kibbutz that damaged one of the houses. Miraculously no one was injured.”

Residents said: “The shooting was directed at a private home. If the resident hadn’t laid on the floor, he would have paid with his life. We have no intention of continuing to do nothing and wait for a real disaster. The writing – and also the bullets – are on the wall. The next victim is only a matter of time.”

Later, the owner of the home that was hit, Oren Haniv, told Reshet Bet that he found one of the bullets in his living room, only centimeters away from where his daughter was sitting. “We live only 300 meters away from Jalbun. Who can promise us that tomorrow morning, they won’t chalilah break through the security fence and enter the kibbutz? We can’t sleep at night.”

The IDF stated: “Security forces who were in the area responded by opening fire toward the source of the shooting. The forces are carrying out searches in the area and launched a manhunt for the terrorists.”

A few months ago, following a number of shooting incidents from Jalbun at Meirav, eight members of the kibbutz decided to cross the separation fence and enter the village and hold a protest. IDF forces were called and led the kibbutznikim out of the Palestinian village.

Later, in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the IDF, a 32-year-old resident of Jalbun was arrested on suspicion of having carried out the shooting attacks at Meirav. Another resident, affiliated with ISIS, who had previously been arrested for terror-related activities, was also arrested.

Meirav is located north of the Green Line, separating Israel from the Shomron, and until last year, the area was rarely targeted by terrorists. That changed in April 2023, when four homes on the religious kibbutz of Ma’ale Gilboa were hit by gunfire. In May, terrorists from Jenin fired across the Green Line at the Gan Ner yishuv in the Gilboa area. Then in the summer months, Jenin terrorists repeatedly fired rockets at yishuvim in the northern Shomron.

In September, the IDF carried out a counterterrorism operation in Jenin and arrested three Hamas terrorists responsible for the rocket attacks as well as shooting and IED attacks. Less than a week later, Jenin terrorists launched another rocket attack at a Jewish yishuv in the northern Shomron.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)