Jihadists attack at Tapuach Junction
A soldier and police officer were lightly injured in a suspected ramming attack at the Tapuah junction east of Ariel in the West Bank on Wednesday.One of the suspects connected with this attack is being pursued:
According to Israel Police, the suspected terrorist arrived at the scene and rammed into the two security personnel at the junction, injuring them lightly. The suspect was shot by security forces after he exited the vehicle and ran toward police with a knife, and is in moderate condition.
The IDF and Israel Police both confirmed that they had received initial reports of a terrorist ramming attack at the junction on Wednesday and were investigating the incident. The IDF announced that a soldier was one the two people injured.
“When we arrived at the scene, two injured people, men about the ages of 20 and 23, were walking at the scene conscious and suffering from light wounds,” explained Aviel Mamlia, a senior MDA paramedic. “We provided them with initial medical care and transferred them in light condition to continued treatment at a hospital.”
Israeli security forces surrounded a building in the West Bank village of Akraba on Wednesday with suspicion that the suspect of the Tapuah junction shooting was inside.Well let's hope they're caught soon. But it's clear the Islamic plague of jihadism will remain for quite a while.
Gunfire and explosions were heard for several hours with a live feed of the incident playing out on Facebook.
By noon however it was reported that the shooter was not inside.
The suspect was identified as Muntasir Shalabi, who is alleged to have shot and wounded three Israelis at the Tapuach Junction on Sunday.
Shalabi is reportedly from the town of Turmus Aiya, near Ramallah, according to Palestinian media reports quoted by Channel 12. He had recently returned from living in the US, the report said. Further media reports claim that Shalabi also had US citizenship before returning to the Palestinian territories.
Overnight Wednesday, Shalabi's wife was detained by Israeli security forces. She was later released.
Shalabi’s 17-year-old son was detained by troops in a raid on his village of Turmas Ayya earlier in the day.
Security forces have been going house to house in Akraba and the surrounding villages and have arrested dozens of Palestinians, many of them family members of the suspect, on suspicion that they provided shelter or other support to Shalabi who has since been on the run.
Those arrested for suspected involvement in the attack were handed over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The IDF confiscated the burnt remnant of the shooter’s bullet-ridden vehicle on Monday.
Labels: anti-semitism, islam, Israel, jihad, military, terrorism, war on terror