The IDF and General Security Services (Shin Bet) released for publication Sunday night that two Palestinian Authority (PA) National Security Force officers and another accomplice are the ones who murdered 29-year-old Ido Zoldan on November 19.
Israeli security officials knew Zoldan was murdered by PA policemen, because two of the three terrorists who shot him to death were arrested the next day in a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation.
Photo: Flash 90
The information was withheld until after the Annapolis summit, however, and only cleared for publication after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert returned from signing a joint declaration with PA Chairman, and acknowledged Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).
Zoldan was shot to death by the three terrorists at approximately 11:30 pm near the PA-controlled Arab village of Funduk, near Kedumim. Magen David Adom medics who arrived at the scene tried desperately to revive him, but to no avail.
The Fatah terrorist group, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, took responsibility for the murder and said it was carried out to protest the upcoming Annapolis conference.
Two terrorists are members of the Palestinian National Security Force in which Israel and the United States have invested money, political support, and actual weapons as part of their effort to prop up the Abbas government.
The two PA policemen and their comrade-in-arms were all members of a terrorist cell from their nearby village of Kadum, close to the northern Samaria Jewish community of Kedumim. Dafar Baram, who was apprehended along with Abdullah Baram, serves in the PA's Ramallah police department.
The third murderer, Fadi Jama'a, also served in the PA National Security Force and was apprehended by fellow PA police. He remains in PA custody. All are 22 years old.
"The first two admitted during questioning that they were responsible for the attack and even handed over the weapons they used," said the IDF spokesman. They also admitted to waiting in their car by the side of the road for an Israeli vehicle to pass, and when Zoldan happened along, they followed his car, firing at him at point-blank range as they drove past. "After the attack they escaped to their village," added the spokesman.
Zoldan, a resident of Shavei Shomron, was expelled with his family from his home in Homesh when 25 northern Samaria Gush Katif Jewish towns were destroyed by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in his 2005 Disengagement Plan. Zoldan leaves behind his wife Tehilla, his 3-year-old son Aharon and his 1-year-old baby daughter Rachel.
More Murder Attempts Sunday by Gaza Terrorists
Three IDF soldiers were wounded Sunday and a fourth suffered shock when a mortar shell hit an IDF medical clinic in the Nachal Oz military base.
A female paramedic, an ambulance driver and a combat medic were hit by shrapnel. The paramedic also suffered a broken bone.
Gaza terrorists fired five mortar shells at Israel during the attack.
In a separate incident, IDF soldiers fired a tank shell at four armed terrorists who were approaching the security fence, hitting the cell. It was not clear whether the terrorists were wounded or killed.
A salvo of approximately 13 shells was fired at a kibbutz in the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council area in the space of 15 minutes earlier in the day. Three hit the kibbutz, five exploded next to the community and several others landed near the security fence.
PA terrorists also fired a rocket on Sderot Sunday afternoon. The Kassam exploded in an open area on the outskirts of the city. A woman fainted when she heard the Color Red alert siren that sounded before the attack, and was treated for shock.