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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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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”