Serious Incident in Jenin: Soldiers Identified a Suspicious Object and Picked It Up, Triggering an Explosion

An explosive device detonated during an operational activity by IDF forces in the Jenin refugee camp today, injuring two career servicemen, an officer seriously and a noncommissioned officer lightly. Initial findings indicate that the force was hurt while carrying out a preparatory patrol ahead of establishing a permanent outpost inside the refugee camp, when the device exploded after one of the fighters identified a suspicious object and picked it up.

The IDF officer was seriously injured and the noncommissioned officer was lightly injured as a result of the explosive blast during an operational activity in the Jenin area under the Menashe Regional Brigade. The incident took place in the late morning, when a force from the Menashe Brigade was operating inside the refugee camp in the city. Immediately after the explosion, the officer and the noncommissioned officer were evacuated by air and by vehicle for urgent medical treatment at the hospital, and at the same time an official notification was delivered to their families by authorized military officials.

According to initial details from the inquiry into the incident, as reported by military correspondent Doron Kadosh, the force operating in the Jenin refugee camp was not conducting a routine arrest operation, but rather a special preparatory patrol ahead of the planned establishment of an IDF permanent outpost deep inside the refugee camp. This is part of a change in the operational concept in the West Bank Division, aimed at strengthening operational control over the main terror hubs in Judea and Samaria and preventing the reestablishment of Islamic Jihad and Hamas infrastructure in the area. The inquiry on the ground also found that during the operational patrol, the force identified a suspicious object placed along the route. One of the fighters picked up the object, and at that stage the powerful explosive device apparently detonated and caused injuries to the two. Picking up suspicious objects in hostile terrain and in an area saturated with explosives like the Jenin refugee camp is considered an unusual event that is now being examined in depth by command levels. Following the incident, large security forces, accompanied by technological means and canine units, continue to operate at the site in order to complete the investigation into the exact circumstances of the explosion and rule out the presence of additional explosive devices or booby traps planted in the patrol area.