Al-Jib
Al-Jib is a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate, located northwest of Jerusalem near the Israeli community of Givon HaHadasha. Historically identified with the biblical Gibeon, the village has recently emerged as a focal point for Israeli security operations targeting hidden weapons caches and subterranean terror infrastructure.
Al-Jib is a village situated in a strategically sensitive area northwest of Jerusalem, bordering the seam zone between Judea and Samaria and Israeli sovereign territory. It lies in close proximity to several Israeli communities, including Givon HaHadasha and Har Shmuel, making its security stability a high priority for the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police and the Border Police (Magav).
In mid-2026, Al-Jib became the site of a significant counter-terrorism operation. Israeli security forces, acting on precise intelligence, uncovered a substantial weapons cache submerged in a deep water well within the village. The discovery required a complex, multi-night mission involving the Israel Fire and Rescue Services to drain the well and professional divers to reach the floor. The arsenal included Carlo-style submachine guns, explosive devices, remote detonators, and liquid explosives, all packaged in sealed bags to preserve their functionality.
Authorities assess that such caches are part of a broader effort by terror elements to establish 'sleeper' logistics hubs near the capital. The village's location near the A-Za'im crossing and its proximity to newly discovered tunnel shafts—one reaching 25 meters deep—highlights the area's role in attempted infiltrations. For Israel, Al-Jib represents the ongoing challenge of managing security in the Jerusalem envelope, where civilian Palestinian areas are frequently exploited by armed groups to store munitions intended for large-scale attacks against Israeli population centers. The Israel Police continues to maintain a heightened presence in the vicinity to disrupt these networks and prevent the transfer of weapons across the security barrier.