IDF Chief of the General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi on Monday arrived at the scene of the shooting attack near Al-Funduq, and conducted a situational assessment and an initial inquiry with the Commanding Officer of the Central Command, the Commanding Officer of the Judea and Samaria Division, and additional commanders.
"This is a severe attack - two [female] civilians and a police officer were killed," Halevi said. "I extend my deepest condolences to the families."
"We are engaged in intense and wide-ranging combat against terrorism in Judea and Samaria. We will intensify and continue this combat. For the terrorists who carried out this attack, the clock is ticking. We will find out who perpetrated this attack and reach them. We will act swiftly to bypass the town on this route and make the route safer."
Three people were murdered in the shooting: Sergeant Elad Yaakov Winklestein, a 35-year-old police detective from Kibbutz Ein Hanatziv, is survived by his wife Tal and his sons Neve and Omer, as well as his parents, Naomi and Yossi, and his siblings Yonatan, Hadas, and Harel. Rachel Cohen and Aliza Rize, ages 70 and 73, were close friends, both from Kedumim. Cohen (73) was a school counselor and is survived by her husband and five daughters. Rize (70) was also a school counselor, and is survived by her children and family.
Initial investigations show that two or three terrorists exited a vehicle and began firing towards two Israeli cars and a bus. The entire terror attack occurred on Highway 55 between Karnei Shomron and Kedumim in Samaria. Following their shooting spree, the terrorists entered a vehicle, after a civilian fired towards them. That civilian, Ami Berber, did not manage to hit the terrorists - but did succeed in driving them away.