On November 2, 2023, an Israel Defense Forces reservist was killed in a shooting attack near the settlement of Shavei Shomron, in the north of the West Bank. The attack took place from a moving vehicle, from which Hamas terrorists fired at the reservist in his vehicle. Following the attack, IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene began a search for the vehicle used by the terrorists, and found a burned car on the side of the road. This vehicle was actually a decoy, intended to lure the soldiers to an IED scene prepared in advance. Hence, retrospectively, the shooting attack was apparently part of the trap prepared for the soldiers.
Baiting attacks are a common phenomenon in many arenas around the world, and they have varied forms. Many target security forces, and in some cases, the attacker must anticipate the steps of the forces and their actions, as in the incident described herein.
The TTP of drawing soldiers into an IED ambush using a decoy/bait in the form of a burned vehicle abandoned by the terrorists is new and unfamiliar in the local fighting arena, and this appears to be the first operational success of this tactic by Hamas. This TTP may be repeated in future attacks, and Israeli security forces will have to treat every burned vehicle abandoned by terrorists at an attack scene as a potential IED trap.
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