Minutes before he opened fire with a rifle at pregnant mother of three Tze'ela Gez and her husband, surveillance soldiers from the Efraim Regional Brigade identified the terrorist who committed the Wednesday night shooting attack near Bruchin, crawling to the scene and preparing for the attack - I24News reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the surveillance system captured the shooting and the terrorist's escape in real-time. According to the IDF, the lookout who identified the terrorist announced that there was an attack as the terrorist opened fire.
At first, the defense establishment believed that the attack was a drive-by shooting. However, at the moment, defense officials have confirmed that the leading assumption is that a single terrorist opened fire from the side of the road. Consequently, search operations are being conducted in the area from which the shooting took place.
Searches for the terrorist continued throughout the night and through Thursday.
Overnight and on Thursday, soldiers from the Duvdevan Unit and undercover Border Police officers operated with the guidance of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) in two locations in the villages of Tamun and Tubas.
During the operation, the forces closed off the villages in the area and blocked the roads. The forces raided two buildings where armed terrorists from local terror groups were holed up.
During the ensuing battle, which included the launch of shoulder-mounted missiles at the building, five armed terrorists were eliminated. An additional terrorist was arrested. Soldiers who searched the buildings found three M-16 assault rifles, four combat vests, and explosives that were ready for use.
At the same time, undercover Border Police officers in Tubas arrested three additional armed terrorists. Among those who were arrested was the head of the village's terror organization and another wanted terrorist who was involved in planning attacks and aiding the arming of terrorists.
The two were arrested in a safe house and were found to be in possession of six M-16s, a pistol, weapons cartridges, three vests, four frag grenades, pipe bombs, and gas tanks that were ready for detonation.
No Israeli forces were hurt in the fighting. All detainees and confiscated arms were taken for investigation by the Shin Bet and Judea and Samaria Police.
