Security forces arrested nine suspects in overnight raids across the West Bank, including the father of the Palestinian terrorist who carried out Friday’s deadly shooting near Gilad Farm, Israel Police said Monday.
Police did not say what the father was suspected of and did not allege that he was involved in the attack itself. He was transferred for questioning.
Three other wanted suspects were arrested in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus in an undercover Border Police operation directed by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
Police said the three were suspected of involvement in terrorist activity but provided no further details and did not say whether they were believed to have any connection to Friday’s attack. They were transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning.
In separate operations in Tal near Nablus, Ramallah, Shuweika near Tulkarm and Bani Naim near Hebron, Border Police arrested six additional suspects, including the attacker’s father.
Charges include incitement to terrorism, rioting, smuggling
Police said those arrests concerned suspicions of incitement to terrorism, rioting, smuggling Palestinians without permits into Israel and other offenses.
Maj. Yuval Ezra, 27, an artillery battery commander, and Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Benyahu Mellet, 32, a member of Gilad Farm’s local security team, were killed in the Friday shooting.
The attack began after a group of Israeli hikers entered Palestinian Authority-controlled territory near the village of Tal and clashed with local Palestinians. According to the IDF, a Palestinian attacker seized a security officer’s rifle and opened fire at the Israelis. He was killed at the scene.