IDF and Shin Bet Uncover Hamas Rocket Cell in Tulkarem After Months-Long Probe

The IDF, Shin Bet, and Israel Police revealed on Tuesday that a months-long intelligence investigation uncovered a Hamas terror cell operating in the Tulkarem area, where security forces found three rockets in various stages of assembly. The weapons were located inside a subterranean storage site in the village of Danaba, between the Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps.

Israeli officials said the rockets were discovered during an operation on November 17, 2025, but the details were cleared for publication only now. The site sits just 2.5 kilometers from Highway 6 near the Nitzanei Oz interchange and 2.7 kilometers from Bat Hefer, a Jewish city, an unusually close and dangerous rocket-launching potential inside Judea and Samaria.

The investigation began after the arrest of several Hamas terrorists from the Tulkarem region. During their interrogation, the Shin Bet learned the group possessed rockets but did not initially know the precise location. One detainee, Ahmed Abu Samra, told investigators he took part in attaching an explosive device to an IDF Panther vehicle last September, which injured several soldiers, and attempted a similar attack against a David vehicle. He also admitted involvement in a December roadside bomb attack on an IDF jeep, in which the former Menashe Brigade Commander, Col. (res.) A., was wounded.

A second suspect, Khalil Kharisha of Tulkarem, “was involved in advancing explosive-device attacks, including the attack in which the former Menashe Brigade Commander was injured, and supplied components and materials needed for production,” according to the Shin Bet.

As the investigation progressed, another detained terrorist provided the critical breakthrough and guided security forces to the exact location of the rockets, a hidden underground cache beneath the yard of a home in Danaba. Despite extensive IDF activity in the region over the past two years, the storage site had remained undetected on one of the only hills not held by Israeli forces around the refugee camps. Palestinian reports claimed that the cave was destroyed by the military later that same morning.

During the November 17 raid, IDF forces from the Ephraim Brigade, directed by Shin Bet intelligence, “located three rockets in various stages of assembly, explosive devices, activation systems, bomb-making components, and explosive materials. One rocket contained a warhead and explosives.” Security officials said the explosives found were non-standard and of low quality, but emphasized the serious threat given the location and intent.

The IDF and Shin Bet said the discovery “illustrates the level of threat in the area and the repeated attempts to advance attacks.” Security forces continue to investigate and are monitoring for additional Hamas infrastructure in the Tulkarem region.