Terrorist linked to murder of officer Noam Raz arrested

Arab terrorist wanted in connection with May 13th murder of Border Police officer Noam Raz captured.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israeli security forces arrested on Thursday a Palestinian Arab terrorist in Jenin wanted in connection with the murder of veteran Border Police commander Noam Raz.

Police officials said 23-year-old Tzedki Ahmed Ali Marai was shot while throwing an explosive device at soldiers. No Israeli personnel were injured. An M-16 machine gun and two pistols were seized.

Raz a veteran of the Border Police’s elite Yamam counter-terror unit, was killed in a heavy shootout in with Palestinian terrorists during a May 13 arrest raid.

Another Palestinian involved in the deadly shootout was killed on November 3 while trying to evade arrest. Farouk Salama was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group and also had ties to the Lion’s Den, a smaller terror group based in Shechem (Nablus).

Both Marai and Salama were associated with other shooting attacks on Israelis in Samaria and had been planning more, police officials said.

The arrest was part of Israel’s months-long Operation Wave Breaker. Near-nightly arrest raids, mostly in the areas of Shechem and Jenin, have foiled hundreds of Palestinian terror attacks. The operation was launched following a spate of deadly Palestinian terror attacks in the spring.