In a joint operation over the weekend by Judea and Samaria District Police officers and IDF soldiers, two stolen vehicles that had been repainted were seized, and two Palestinian Arabs were arrested on suspicion of involvement in vehicle theft.
On Saturday night, near Beit Jala, Etzion Police Station officers noticed a black Kia vehicle that aroused their suspicion. A check revealed that the car had been stolen from Bnei Brak in September 2024 and repainted from white to black. The driver, a 21-year-old Palestinian from Hebron, was arrested and taken for questioning.
In a separate incident, during a proactive operation by Binyamin Police Station officers and soldiers from the Duvdevan Battalion, a vehicle traveling without license plates was stopped in the village of Silwad. A check found that the vehicle had been stolen in March 2024. The driver was wearing an IDF uniform and did not have a driver’s license.
It was further discovered that the suspect driver is the brother of Tahar Hamed, who carried out the shooting attack at the Ofra Junction in 2002, in which 11 Israelis, some of them IDF soldiers, were murdered. In that case, Hamed was captured by soldiers from the Duvdevan Battalion after an extensive manhunt.
The suspect driver, a 41-year-old Palestinian Arab resident of the area, was arrested and transferred for investigation at the Binyamin Police Station.
Police said: “We will continue to act decisively against all perpetrators of criminal offenses, particularly property crimes, to locate them and bring them to justice. Those criminals who mistakenly believe that being in the Judea and Samaria District constitutes a safe ‘city of refuge’ that will prevent the Israel Police-working in close cooperation with IDF soldiers and all security forces-from eventually reaching them, are wrong."