The members of a terror cell believed to be responsible for the murder of an Israeli couple whose four young children were in the car at the time of the attack were arrested.
The five-member terror cell affiliated with Hamas in Nablus in the West Bank was arrested Oct. 5 during a joint operation conducted by the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police, according to statements released by the security agencies.
Following the announcement of the capture of the terror cell, State Department spokesman Marc Toner confirmed that Rabbi Eitam Henkin, who was killed in the attack with his wife, Na’ama, was an American citizen who grew up in Israel.
Several additional suspects have been arrested on suspicion of aiding the cell, according to the Shin Bet.
During questioning, the cell members said that after they opened fire on the car carrying the Henkin family, they left their vehicle and approached the car and fired on the couple at close range.
During the shooting, one of the cell members was accidentally shot by one of his colleagues and dropped his pistol, which was left at the scene and found by Israeli forces. The terrorists fled toward Nablus, according to the Shin Bet.
The cell members also said that they had been involved in two shooting attacks in recent weeks, neither of which resulted in casualties.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the arrests in a statement. “We are acting with a strong hand against terrorism and against inciters,” Netanyahu said. “We are operating on all fronts. We have brought an additional four IDF battalions into Judea and Samaria, and thousands of police into Jerusalem. The police are going deeply into the Arab neighborhoods, which has not been done in the past.
“We will demolish terrorists’ homes. We are allowing our forces to take strong action against those who throw rocks and firebombs. This is necessary in order to safeguard the security of Israeli citizens on the roads and everywhere.” — jta