Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Chief of General Staff Lieutenant-General Aviv Kochavi made his comments on Monday at a ceremony to mark the appointment of Major General Tomer Bar as head of the Air Force.
“At least 10 terror attacks have been prevented in the past two weeks, thanks to intelligence and operations,” Kochavi said. “Even at this moment, we are focused on thwarting further attacks.” “This is the IDF’s main mission at the moment” he added. “We will act wherever, as required, and using all methods to stop terrorism.”
The general did not give any details of the alleged terrorist plots, but a series of attacks in Israel over a few days in late February left 11 people dead.
Israeli authorities vowed to crack down on those suspected of planning attacks and launched a special operation codenamed “Breakwater” to that end. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Saturday that the IDF would stay on high alert throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and maybe beyond.
“We are in the midst of a joint effort, by all security forces, to stop the string of recent terrorist attacks and to bring back security to the citizens of Israel,” Bennett said.
Also on Saturday, Israeli troops killed three members of the Islamic Jihad group who they said were traveling from the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Jenin to carry out an attack in Israel. Two mother men were killed in an IDF raid on Jenin on Thursday. On Sunday night, undercover agents arrested a man they accused of planning an attack on the Route 6 road.