Israeli forces arrest 2 terrorists behind Samaria shooting attack

One of the terrorists had served a prison sentence for terror and drug trafficking.

By World Israel News Staff

Border Police officers and IDF troops on Sunday arrested two suspects in a shooting attack that occurred near Shechem (Nablus) in Samaria two days earlier, the army said.

One of the suspects, 47-year-old Nasser Nakiv from the nearby Askar refugee camp, is a former security prisoner and member of the paramilitary unit related to the Fatah faction, and has a history of involvement in shooting attacks and drug trafficking. Nakiv’s son was also arrested on suspicion of involvement in Friday’s shooting attack.

During Sunday’s raids, Israeli forces came under attack and rocks were thrown at troops, who responded with live fire. One Palestinian rioter was wounded.

Shmuel Reinitz, a resident of Emanuel whose car was shot by the suspect on Friday near Havat Gilad, described the attack on Israel’s Reshet Bet radio.

According to Reinitz, the terrorists’ vehicle, which he noted had a yellow Israeli number plate and not a white Palestinian one, blocked him.

“I swerved to the left, overtook him and heard shots. The terrorist was sitting outside with a long rifle and a barrel. I think he laughed. The windshield broke. I fled the scene as fast as I could, stopped to the side. I saw that I was breathing, I touched my head, I saw that everything was fine and I thanked God. After that the commanders of the army came and took a bullet out of my headrest, which entered through the right door.”

Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, praised the capture of the suspects and called on the government to bolster security measures in the region. “I call on the government not to repeat the mistakes made a few months ago, and to work on reestablishing the checkpoints and eliminating the terrorist infrastructure. We will not allow another terror wave to be repeated here,” Dagan said.

“Capturing these terrorists immediately is of great importance,” Dagan continued. “The settlement in Samaria and the entire nation of Israel are strong, we will never break.”