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Terrorist who murdered two Israelis identified as Palestinian police officer

Terrorist gunman who shot and killed two Israelis outside Samaria town Thursday was a member of the Palestinian Authority’s police forces and the ruling Fatah party.

By World Israel News Staff

One of the two Palestinian Arab terrorists responsible for a deadly shooting attack next to an Israeli town in Samaria Thursday has been identified as a police officer in the Palestinian Authority’s Palestinian Preventive Security (PPS) force.

On Thursday, at approximately 5:00 p.m., two Palestinian terrorists armed with M-16 assault rifles opened fire on Israelis at a gas station on Route 60, near the town of Eli in Samaria.

Two men, including 57-year-old ZAKA volunteer and Shavi Shomron resident Yitzhak Zeiger, were killed in the attack.

IDF reservist Aviad Gizbar, owner and proprietor of the Hummus Eliyahu shop adjacent to the gas station, shot and killed one of the two terrorists, while the other was shot and wounded.

The slain terrorist was later identified as Muhammad Manasra, a resident of the Palestinian Authority-administered town of Qalandiya, near Jerusalem.

Manasra had served as an officer in the Palestinian Preventative Security force, and was a member of the ruling Fatah party, a faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization.

He had been imprisoned in Israel twice for terror-related charges, before being released from Ofer prison in 2019, following a jail term for illegal weapons-related offenses.

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WAFA, the official mouthpiece of the Palestinian Authority, ignored Manasara’s role in the terror attack, writing only that “occupation forces shot a young man…south of Nablus.”

Manasara held a rank in the Palestinian Preventative Security forces equivalent to Major, and was a graduate of the Egyptian Police College.

Shlomo Ne’eman, the mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council – the umbrella group representing Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria –  released a statement accusing the Palestinian Authority of “waging a war” on Israelis in the area.

“Once again, a very serious attack, and once again the Jews have been targeted. At this difficult time, we embrace the families of the slain and demand the reverse effect in Judea and Samaria.”

“The Palestinian Authority is waging a war against us, and we have to act with force to eliminate all threats throughout Judea and Samaria. The State of Israel and the rest of the world need to understand that there is no difference between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas terrorists. Whoever did not condemn the pogrom on Simchat Torah, whoever finances the families of the terrorists who carried out the attack, has no right to exist.”