Car attack near Beit Aryeh
Car attack near Beit AryehScreenshot

It was released for publication on Friday morning that in an overnight manhunt the Arab terrorist who ran over four IDF soldiers in his car on Thursday afternoon was caught.

The terrorist was named as Mahmoud abd al Halim abd al Hamid Salam, a 37-year-old resident of the village of Al Luban in Samaria.

Salam is identified with the Hamas terrorist organization. In 2001 he was given an administrative arrest for six months over terrorist involvement, but since then he has had no record of terrorist activity.

In an initial interrogation at the site of his capture he admitted to committing the attack after being influenced by the incitement of Palestinian Arab media, which has been fueling attacks by calling to "defend" Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

He also said the attack was due to "the murder of Palestinian children," in an apparent reference to the young Arab terrorists being shot as they launch their lethal attacks. The terrorist was transferred to the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) for investigation.

Salam was apprehended in the framework of joint intelligence and operational activities by the general security services, the IDF and the police.

In the attack, Salam rammed his black Isuzu car into four soldiers at the village of Al Luban adjacent to the entrance to Beit Aryeh, a town just over the 1949 Armistice lines.

The soldiers were wounded, one moderately to seriously and the rest lightly. The seriously wounded soldier was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva to receive medical treatment.

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Shortly after the attack, security forces managed to locate the car used in the attack but Salam had already abandoned it and continued his escape attempt.

Inside the car a stun grenade and an M-16 semi-automatic assault rifle were found. The weapon evidently fell into the car through a window during the horrific attack.