Israel's First Casualty in Operation Against Terror Networks in Judea and Samaria

Friday, 31 January 2025 | An Israeli soldier was killed in combat and four others were wounded on Thursday during a firefight with terrorists in Jenin in Samaria, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Staff Sgt. Liam Hazi, 20, of the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit is the first Israeli casualty in “Operation Iron Wall,” which the IDF initiated on January 21 in Samaria and Judea against terrorist networks. Of the four wounded, one was severely hurt, and the three others sustained light wounds, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

Hazi’s unit was conducting house searches when it encountered a group of armed terrorists who opened fire on the troops at close range, the report said. The terrorists escaped.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF Spokesperson, said in a statement: “We mourn with the family and accompany them in these difficult hours. We continue to act resolutely against terrorism everywhere, including in Judea and Samaria. Tonight, too, we remember those who fell in the battles on October 7, 2023, and the heavy price paid by IDF regular and reserve fighters throughout the war.”

Earlier on Thursday, the IDF said the Israeli Air Force had carried out a strike against terrorists in Samaria on Wednesday, killing 10 of them. Another terrorist, Col. Kassem Aklik, a senior officer in the Palestinian Authority [PA] security forces and a member of the Fatah movement of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, was killed by ground troops on Thursday, the army added.

The strike is a “direct continuation of the intensive counter-terrorism activity of the Shin Bet [Israeli internal security organization] and the IDF against terrorist infrastructures in the northern Samaria region,” read a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

Aklik was killed in Nablus, the army said. He had planned several attacks against Israelis and had tried to escape when officers from the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit approached a building where he was staying, the statement said.

Aklik was carrying a pistol, according to the statement. The officers shot and killed him.