Israeli security forces kill murder suspect
February 6, 2018
Israeli security forces on Tuesday killed Ahmad Jarrar, a Palestinian man who they say was the head of a militant cell that killed a West Bank settler, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
Rabbi Raziel Shevah, 35, was killed in a drive-by shooting near his home in the unauthorized settlement outpost Havat Gilad near the West Bank city of Nablus in January.
The details
- In a joint operation with the military, Israel's Shin Bet security surrounded Jarrar's home in the northern West Bank.
- They shot and killed him as he exited his house, they say he was carrying weapons and explosives.
- Palestinian authorities confirmed Jarrar's death.
- The Israeli military had been conducting a large manhunt in the area of Jarrar's hometown of Jenin.
- Israeli forces had destroyed his home in a previous attempt to catch him.
- Security forces had already killed one of the other alleged gunmen and captured an another.
Israel looking for killer of Itamar Ben Gal
In a statement, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that it was "only a matter of time" until Jarrar was killed. The militant group Hamas referred to Jarrar as a "martyr."
Jarrar's death comes one day after a Palestinian stabbed 29-year-old Israeli man Itamar Ben Gal to death at a bus stop near the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed that the killer of Ben Gal would also be caught.
Read more: Israel moves to legalize West Bank settlement outpost following rabbi's killing
"The security forces will catch whoever tries to attack Israeli citizens and we will deal with them to the fullest extent of the law," Netanyahu said.
As part of the response to Shevach's killing, the Israeli cabinet this week voted to legalize the Havat Gilad settlement outpost. About 600,000 Israelis live in more than 200 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for their future state, as well as the Gaza Strip.
Violence since the Jerusalem decision
Since US President Donald Trump's decision on December 6, 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Palestinian demonstrators have clashed with Israeli troops in the West Bank and along the Gaza-Israeli border, with 19 Palestinians killed in the violence.
Read more: Jerusalem fallout: Deadly clashes between Palestinians, Israelis over US decision
law/msh (AP, dpa, Reuters)