Bereaved relatives meet Border Police officers
Bereaved relatives meet Border Police officersPolice spokersperson

The bereaved relatives of two Israeli terror victims met with the security personnel responsible for bringing the terrorist to justice.

In October, Ashraf Na’alwa, a terrorist from the Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Shweika near Tulkarem, shot and killed 29-year-old Kim Yehezkel-Levengrond and 35-year-old Ziv Hajbi during a terror attack in the Barkan industrial zone in Samaria.

After two months of searches by Israeli security forces, Border Police officers managed to track down Na’alwa in the PA-controlled city of Shechem (Nablus) during a joint operation with the Shin Bet internal security agency.

During the attempted arrest, Na’alwa opened fire on the Israeli officers, forcing the Border Police officers to return fire, killing Na’alwa.

Earlier this week, relatives of Hajbi and Yehezkel-Levengrond met with the officers who tracked down and killed Na’alwa.

The gathering was organized by the Border Police, and was hosted by Border Police commander Yaakov ‘Kobi’ Shabbtai, and the commander of the Yamam special police force, N. (whose identity is withheld for security reasons).

“Since the terror attack [in Barkan], there is no one in the security establishment who hasn’t been involved in trying to locate the terrorist and to arrest those who aided him in his escape,” said Shabbtai.

“The Yamam [special police force] and Shin Bet internal security agency working together with the IDF worked day and night to hunt down [the terrorist]. There was never any question that we would get to him, and that’s what happened.”

Tal Hajbi, the brother of Ziv Hajbi, thanked the officers for their efforts to bring Na’alwa to justice.

“We’re thankful for the chance to meet with you, and thank you for your sacrifice. You put your lives on the line every day, and we wanted to look you in the eyes and say ‘thanks’.”

Rafi, the father of Kim Yehezkel-Levengrond, said he had had an unwavering faith that Israeli security forces would reach his daughter’s killer.

“It was always clear to us that [the terrorist] couldn’t evade the Israeli security establishment. Whether it took a week more or less, we knew that in the end he would be found, and we could feel a little bit of satisfaction knowing that he wouldn’t be walking free.”