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Three Israeli Police Officers Killed in Terror Shooting Near Hebron
A view shows Palestinian houses as an Israeli power distribution plant is seen in the background in Hebron in the West Bank, Jan. 22, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Mussa Qawasma.
JNS.org – Three Israeli police officers were killed in a drive-by shooting on Sunday morning near the Tarqumiya checkpoint, some 7.5 miles northwest of Hebron in Judea.
Magen David Adom paramedics treated a male and a female officer at the scene before pronouncing them dead. Another male officer was seriously wounded and evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, where he was later pronounced dead.
They were later named as Ch. Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, 37, from Kiryat Gat, who is survived by his wife and three children; Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, 53, from Sde Moshe, who is survived by her husband, three children and a granddaughter; and First Sgt. Roni Shakuri, 61, from Sderot, who is survived by his wife, a daughter and a granddaughter.
אנו מודיעים בצער ויגון רב על נפילתם של שלושה שוטרים הבוקר בפיגוע ירי רצחני סמוך למעבר תרקומיא:
פקד אריק בן אליהו ז”ל, בן 37, תושב קרית גת.
הותיר אחריו אישה ושלושה ילדים, הורים ושתי אחיות.
רנ”ג הדס ברנץ ז”ל, בת 53, תושבת שדה משה.
הותירה אחריה בעל ושלושה ילדים, הורים וחמישה… pic.twitter.com/nr01SBmfCW
— משטרת ישראל (@IL_police) September 1, 2024
Shakuri’s daughter, First Sgt. Mor Shakuri, was killed while battling Hamas terrorists attempting to take control of the Sderot police station on Oct. 7.
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday initiated a search for the terrorists, who opened fire from a car at the police vehicle with the three officers inside on Route 35 and then fled on foot. The road was closed to traffic and security forces were preparing to search the nearby Palestinian village of Idna.
Later on Sunday, IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) fighters surrounded a house in Hebron where terrorists were believed to be holed up, the military said in a statement. At least one terrorist linked to Sunday morning’s attack was “neutralized” at the site, the IDF stated.
According to reports, the terrorist who carried out the shooting served as a member of Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas‘s “Presidential Guard,” though it was unclear whether he still held the position.
Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived at the scene of the attack.
“I am certain and convinced that together with the IDF we will find and eliminate the despicable terrorists who harmed three of our good policemen,” Levy said at the scene.
Ben-Gvir said, “The right to life [of Israelis] prevails over the freedom of movement of the Palestinians.”
The minister later tweeted, in a lengthy post about the Judea attack and the bodies of six hostages recovered in Gaza overnight Saturday, that the attack “once again proved, unfortunately, the dire consequences of terrorists roaming freely in the area.
“Terrorism must be fought without imagination and without following [failed] security assumptions. In Gaza as in Judea and Samaria. The Palestinian Authority is a terrorist authority—an instigator of terrorism, pays salaries to murderers of Jews, its police officers engage in terrorism, and the Al-Aqsa Brigades [Fatah-affiliated terrorist group] belong to it,” Ben-Gvir continued.
“Those who trust them, endanger the State of Israel. Unfortunately, the security assumptions also control the roads; when Defense Minister Gallant orders to open roadblocks for the Palestinians, the result is the murder of Jews. It is forbidden to be bleeding hearts at the expense of the lives of our citizens—our right to live and not to be murdered, prevails over their right of movement. We need to close the traffic lanes we travel on to the residents of the P.A.”
יום קשה עם בשורות מרות. עם ישראל כולו כואב. ליבנו שותת דם. אנו משגרים תנחומים למשפחות החטופים שנרצחו בעזה, ולמשפחות הנרצחים בפיגוע בתרקומיא. באופן אישי אלה שוטרים גיבורים שאת חלקם היכרתי – אחיי הקדושים .
לצערי, אני רואה את האמירות המופרעות משמאל, שמאשימות את ממשלת ישראל ברצח…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) September 1, 2024
The head of the Gush Etzion Council, Yaron Rosenthal, called on the IDF to “start the operation to clean up the nests of terrorism in the [P.A.’s] Hebron Governorate and the surrounding area.”
On Saturday, an IDF soldier was killed and three others wounded during clashes with Hamas terrorists in Jenin in northern Samaria.
The slain man was identified as Staff Sgt. Elkana Navon, 20, from Petach Tikvah.
Also on Saturday, the Hamas terrorist group hailed the previous day’s “double heroic operation” after car bombers wounded three Israelis in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank.
The post Three Israeli Police Officers Killed in Terror Shooting Near Hebron first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.