Armored vehicles vulnerable to West Bank IEDs: Israeli army

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
28 Aug 2023 12:14

The Israeli army says that the West Bank is becoming a death trap to storming soldiers traveling in armored vehicles due to Resistance IEDs.

Smoke billows from the aftermath of the detonation of a Resistance explosive charge on an Israeli occupation armored vehicle during the Israeli aggression on Jenin in the West Bank on June 19, 2023 (AFP)

The threat of the IEDs used by the Resistance in the West Bank is real, and it is growing to become a serious issue for the Israeli occupation forces. They have become vulnerable targets even when traveling in armored vehicles. The Israeli army admitted this on Monday, according to a report published by the 'Walla' news channel.

Explosive devices deployed by the Resistance in the West Bank are turning its towns and villages into a "death trap" for storming Israeli soldiers and their armored vehicles. But while the fortified personnel carriers are designated to "protect the occupation soldiers" sheltered inside, the IEDs rendered the armor ineffective and proved very lethal.

"The [armored] vehicles are unable to withstand the [Resistance] explosives," the report said citing an army official.

#Watch | Footage shows an explosive device being detonated below an Israeli armored vehicle in Jenin, possibly disabling it.#JeninUnderAttack
#Palestine #بأس_جنين
#جنين_عاصمة_المواجهة pic.twitter.com/OxEzQoaluN
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 4, 2023

According to the report, an intelligence tip relayed by the Shin Bet to the Israeli military warned about the effectiveness of the IEDs, both "provided by Iran" and locally produced. However, the military chose to ignore the warnings. This proved to be a dangerous mistake.

Shortly after the army received the memo - which it chose to disregard - an Israeli occupation soldier was severely wounded from an explosive planted by resistance factions in Jenin.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced in July that its fighters in Jenin have developed an Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP), or a self-forming warhead. The Resistance brigades revealed that the device was used to target occupation army vehicles partaking in the latest aggression on Jenin, dubbed by the Israelis "Operation Home and Garden."

يُرْسَلُ عَلَيْكُمَا شُوَاظٌ مِنْ نَارٍ

بعون الله تعالى تعلن كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام في جنين
عن إدخال عبوة شواظ (1) الخارقة للدروع إلى الخدمة.

وإنه لجهاد نصر أو استشهاد

السبت 27 ذو الحجة 1444هـ
الموافق 15 يوليو 2023 pic.twitter.com/85UllGMTGj
— مهـ𓂆ـتدي (@MohtadiBahmad) July 15, 2023

The official recalled this event, confirming that Resistance explosive devices targeted Israeli armored vehicles on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp. One IED severely damaged one of the vehicles, resulting in the wounding of six occupation soldiers, one of whom critically.

"The fighters miraculously survived," the official stressed, adding that it was then revealed to the operating units that the military command had previously received intelligence information regarding the deadly IEDs but decided not to give weight to the forewarning.

According to an Israeli report on Sunday, the Israeli army claimed it had repelled an alleged attempt to "smuggle Iranian explosives to the West Bank through Jordan."

Lethality of the "Iranian explosives is increasing," the army said, adding that they [explosives] are highly more capable than those produced by the Resistance in the West Bank. However, the damage capacity of the IEDs is not the only concern for the Israeli military.

During the three-day aggression on Jenin last July, the Israeli occupation military was forced to "destroy over 1.5 km of roads and thoroughfares" in fear of explosions planted by the Resistance, said the official.

The significant number of IEDs used and deployed by the fighters indicates the Resistance's ability to mass produce these devices, which alone was an alarming revelation.