Terror Thwarted: Israel Apprehends Terrorists En Route to Shooting Attack in Samaria

Monday, 13 January 2025 | Israeli security forces arrested two Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists on Saturday evening who were on their way to carry out a shooting attack in the “immediate future.”

Islamic Jihad operatives Ahmad Zaqarna, 21, and Tariq Abu Zayd, 25, from Qabatiya in the Jenin area, were arrested in Nablus (Shechem) with two loaded M-16 rifles, ammunition and military gear in their possession by the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the two organizations revealed in a joint statement with the Israel Police on Sunday.

Initial questioning by Shin Bet agents indicated that the terrorists left Jenin and were on their way to carry out a shooting attack, the statement noted, adding that their interrogation was “ongoing.” 

In the wake of the January 6 terrorist shooting that killed three Israelis in the Arab village of Al-Funduq, just west of Nablus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that he had approved “a series of additional offensive and defensive actions in Judea and Samaria.” 

The terrorists who carried out that attack, killing Rachel Cohen, 73, Aliza Rice, 70, and Israel Police Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein, 35, remain at large. Seven more people were wounded in the attack.

Among other measures, the Israeli military suspended the entry of Palestinian workers into Jewish towns throughout Judea and Samaria.