IDF officials have published the details from the preliminary investigation into the severe shooting attack at the Tayasir checkpoint between Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
Two IDF reservists were killed in the attack and several others were wounded.
The incident occurred inside the guard tower in the installation where 11 soldiers and their commander were at the time. The terrorist was wearing a standard vest and was armed with an M-16 assault rifle and two magazines. He reached the scene on foot, sneaked into the installation at night, and surprised the soldiers at dawn, just before 6:00 a.m.
The first soldier who left the tower with gear on him was ambushed right at the entrance to the position by the terrorist, who waited for an additional soldier. At that point, a gun battle ensued at very short range and lasted several minutes. All the soldiers fired at the terrorist from the rooms and the sentry area and the terrorist shot from the entrance to the guard tower. During the gunfight, the terrorist attempted to flee the installation.
After a several-minute-long gunbattle inside the installation, one of the soldiers threw a grenade which hit the terrorist. He was neutralized and two other soldiers eliminated him. A Hermes UAV tracked the terrorist from the air, but he had been eliminated by soldiers on the ground.
"Our assessment is that the military compound was under intelligence surveillance for a long time," a military official from the IDF Central Command stated this morning. He added: "The terrorist demonstrated knowledge of the area and chose a specific time to commit the attack." The IDF is not ruling out the possibility that the terrorist had an accomplice who drove him to the scene and assisted in surveillance.
The IDF is investigating why the troops shot toward the window of the guard tower and why the lookout did not notice the terrorist approaching the installation.