After long manhunt, IDF nabs and kills Barkan and Ofra terrorists
The security forces arrested and interrogated a number of people who were believed to have information on Na’alwa's whereabouts.
By YVETTE J. DEANEUpdated: DECEMBER 13, 2018 14:14Israeli troops kill Barkan and Ofra terrorists and shoot dead a stabber in Jerusalem, December 13, 2018 (Reuters)
The IDF and Shin Bet killed two terrorists on the run early Thursday morning: Ashraf Walid Suleiman Na’alwa, 23, the Barkan terrorist, early Thursday morning in Nablus and Saleh Omar Barghouti, 29 the son of a West Bank Hamas leader and arrested suspected of links to the terrorist cell that wounded seven Israeli civilians at a bus stop outside of the Ofra settlement earlier this week according to the Shin bet.Na'awla has been on the run since the attack in early October.During the operation, a firefight ensued in the apartment where Na’alwa was hiding, and he was killed during the gunfight.The security forces arrested and interrogated a number of people who were believed to have information on Na’alwa's whereabouts. The interrogations revealed Na’alwa plotted to commit another terrorist attack, the Shin Bet revealed.In early October, Na’alwa killed Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel, 29, of Rosh Ha’ayin, and Ziv Hajbi, 35, from Rishon Lezion in the Barkan Industrial Park in the Samaria region of the West Bank. A third Israeli was also moderately wounded. Na’alwa, from the village of Shuweika near the West Bank Palestinian city of Tulkarm, had no previous security related history, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis told reporters after the terrorist attack occurred.Na’alwa had a permit to work at the Barkan park. He had been employed previously as an electrician for the past seven months at a factory run by the Alon Group. However, he had not come to work for the past few weeks, according to Manelis.A senior IDF officer told Army Radio that security forces had been close to capturing Na’alwa on several occasions before, but that he succeeded in escaping at the last minute. In addition, the officer said that Na’alwa did not use mobile phones or any other form of communication technology, making it more difficult for Israeli security forces to locate him.Earlier, The Shin Bet confirmed that it had shot Saleh Omar Barghouti, the terrorist who was a resident of Kobar, near Ramallah, who was accused of the shooting that took place in Ofra earlier this week.Saleh Omar Barghouti is the son of a West Bank Hamas leader, Omar Barghouti. He is not the same Omar Barghouti who leads the Palestinian BDS movement.
“The suspect tried to harm our forces as he attempted to flee,” the Shin Bet said in a statement, adding that security forces “shot and killed” him. Tovah Lazaroff, Khaled Abu Toameh and Anna Ahronheim contributed to the report.