On September 25, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) announced on its official Telegram channel that Israeli forces had killed one of its commanders and another member in the northern West Bank. The group identified the deceased fighters as Alaa Suleiman and Muhammad Suleiman.
“With the highest expressions of pride and honor, Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, announces to our struggling Palestinian people and to the Arab and Islamic nations: The martyr, Commander Alaa Judat Suleiman. The martyr, mujahid Muhammad Qasim Suleiman. From the mujahidin of the Tammun Company, Tubas Battalion, who rose to the highest ranks this morning, Thursday 25-09-2025, after engaging in an armed clash for several hours with the enemy forces that besieged them in a house in the town of Tammun in the northern occupied West Bank,” PIJ stated.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that a joint operation involving Yamam (the Israeli Border Police’s counterterrorism unit), the Shin Bet intelligence agency, and IDF troops killed Alaa and Muhammad after they had barricaded themselves in a building. Both suspects were wanted for planning a terrorist attack and their involvement in “advancing shooting and explosive attacks from Tammun.”
Launched in January, the IDF’s “Iron Wall” operation targeting Palestinian terrorist groups in the West Bank has curbed the number of attacks from the territory. Earlier this year, the Israeli security establishment published figures showing a downward trend in West Bank terrorism, Ynet reported. In April, 46 terrorist attacks were recorded in the West Bank. That compares to a peak monthly average of 214 in 2023 and 115 in 2024. By contrast, the average number of terrorist attacks was 74 in 2020, 120 in 2021, and 168 in 2022.
FDD’s The Long War Journal has also observed a downward trend in social media activity by West Bank terrorist groups since January. Telegram channels operated by Hamas, PIJ, the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and other organizations have significantly reduced their output of media. In some cases, channels have ceased to function.
Although terrorist activity by armed groups has been on the decline, the killing of two PIJ operatives preparing an attack underscores that the threat to Israel has not disappeared from the West Bank. In addition, on September 16, the IDF identified a rocket launch in the West Bank village of Nima. Following an investigation of the incident, Israeli forces were led to Ramallah, where they dismantled a cell that was producing rockets. Israeli forces’ discovery of the rocket lab “alarmed” IDF central command, Ynet reported
