At least one person was killed in a suspected shooting attack in the area of Neveh Tzuf in the West Bank, north of Ramallah, on Sunday afternoon.
The victim, identified by the Samaria Regional Council as Netanel Chkroun, was originally in critical condition. His condition was temporarily updated to severe after Magen David Adom personnel succeeded in restoring his pulse through CPR.
He was evacuated by helicopter to Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, before succumbing to his wounds.
“We arrived at the scene and saw a male in his 30s inside a vehicle, unconscious, with multiple gunshot wounds,” said MDA paramedic David Trachtenberg. “We removed him from the vehicle and immediately began providing life-saving medical treatment.”
“We placed him in the ambulance, and with the assistance of a physician and a paramedic, immediately began evacuating him to the hospital while fighting for his life, providing medical treatment and blood products, in the hope of stabilizing his condition.”
According to initial reports, the terrorist opened fire at Israelis bathing in a nearby spring from what appears to be a red Mitsubishi SUV with Palestinian Authority license plates. He then exited the vehicle armed and fled the scene on foot.
IDF Duvdevan Unit undercover counterterror commandos arrest terror suspect outside nearby hospital
Soldiers from the IDF’s Duvdevan undercover counterterrorism unit arrested the terrorist who carried out the shooting after acting on Shin Bet and Israel Police intelligence, the military confirmed.
“Minutes after the shooting, a brigade tracker operating nearby rushed to the scene and fired at the terrorist. The terrorist was wounded by the gunfire and fled,” the military noted.
“Duvdevan commandos apprehended the terrorist after he had fled to a hospital near the site of the attack,” the military stated.
Shin Bet and Israel Police noted that the hospital where the suspect was apprehended is in the Ramallah area.
“Security forces will work to bring every terrorist to justice,” the military said.
“The terrorist will be transferred to the Shin Bet and the Israel Police for interrogation,” authorities confirmed.
Victim a hi-tech professional, father of six
Chkroun was a father of six and worked as an information systems analyst at Hachshara Insurance Company, the Samaria Regional Council said. His wife, Dr. Merav Chkroun, is a lecturer at Ariel University.
He had arrived at Neveh Tzuf to immerse himself alongside his eldest son, an 11th-grade student. His youngest child is four years old.
“[He was] a man of kindness, humility, and love for his fellow man, murdered just after finishing his immersion with his son ahead of Yom Kippur,” said council head Yossi Dagan. “These barbarians will never break us; we will build up our land even further.”
The Alei Zahav community commented on Chkroun’s murder, describing him as a “man of kindness, humble, unassuming, and beloved, a devoted husband to Meirav and a devoted father to his six children.”
“The Chkroun family is a long-standing, deeply rooted family in the community, an integral part of Eli Zahav,” the community said. “We all embrace Meirav and the children, and we will stand by their side during this difficult time and in whatever way is needed. May his memory be a blessing.”
IDF chief visits attack site: ‘Our mission is not over’
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the scene of the attack later on Sunday, offering his condolences to the Chkroun family.
He described the attack as a “severe terrorist attack,” noting that the IDF “acted quickly” to apprehend the terrorist responsible.
“Our mission is not over,” he emphasized. “We will impose a closure on the village and conduct investigations, through which we will reach everyone who assisted the terrorist.”
“Ahead of Yom Kippur, we reinforced our soldiers on the frontlines and placed additional forces on standby for immediate deployment,” Zamir noted. “On this holy day, as the people of Israel gather for Yom Kippur prayers, the IDF continues to stand guard.”
Ben-Gvir calls for death penalty for suspected terrorist
Before the suspect was apprehended, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had affirmed that should the terrorist who carried out the shooting attack not be killed during the manhunt, “he belongs on the gallows,” in accordance with the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law.
Before apprehending the suspected terrorist, the IDF established roadblocks in the area, and Highway 465 was closed to traffic in both directions.
Soldiers from the Binyamin Regional Brigade, Duvdevan, Israel Police, and several other units mobilized to pursue the terrorist as part of a manhunt. Security forces have established a blockade around the nearby village of Deir Nidham.
Security forces searched on foot and using drones, as well as other air force assets, police said.
Senior IDF and Israel Police officers, including IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Zamir, IDF Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, IDF Judea and Samaria Division chief Brig.-Gen Kobi Heller, and Israel Police’s Judea and Samaria District chief and Samaria region chief all attended the scene for situational assessments and to command and coordinate the responses of security forces, including the manhunt.
“We are determined to reach the terrorist and anyone who assisted him, and to either arrest or kill them. We know the terrorist’s location, and it is only a matter of time before we capture him,” Bluth said at the scene.
“We are operating throughout the Command’s sector to realize our vision, especially ahead of Yom Kippur: civilians living their daily lives, while the military confronts terror. Extensive forces are deployed across the sector, simultaneously hunting the terrorist, protecting residents and roadways, and thwarting terror,” Bluth added.
“On behalf of all Central Command commanders and soldiers, I share in the grief of the victim’s family and mourn this terrible loss alongside them,” he said.
Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Israel Ganz also attended the scene.
“Residents came to the spring to [ritually] immerse themselves [in the spring] ahead of Yom Kippur when a terrorist arrived armed with an M-16 and opened fire on them. One of the residents was critically wounded and is being evacuated to the hospital,” Ganz said.
“IDF, Israel Police, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Border Police personnel are all engaged in a manhunt for the terrorist, who is still in the area. This is a very grave incident, but we are strong and will overcome it. God willing, by the time Sukkot arrives, this place will be filled with hikers; no one will drive us away from here,” Ganz added.
Hamas praises, does not explicitly claim responsibility for terror attack
Hamas “welcomed the heroic shooting operation” in a statement published on Sunday afternoon.
The terror attack was “carried out by one of the heroes of our people,” the Gazan terror group said.
“It was a clear and practical response to the statements and incursion of the criminal [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, as well as his provocative and theatrical actions inside the tunnels beneath the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque,” Hamas stated.
“We affirm that this blessed and heroic operation is a legitimate and natural response to the ongoing incursions by settlers and occupation leaders into the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque and their desecration of it. It is also an affirmation that Jeruslaem and al-Aqsa are worth defending with lives and souls,” the terror group added.
“This operation constitutes a decisive response to the settlers’ lawlessness and their escalating crimes against our people in the villages and towns of the occupied West Bank, and a clear message that settler terrorism will only be confronted with further painful blows,” Hamas said.
The terror group concluded by “calling upon our steadfast people in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, and throughout all parts of our homeland, to escalate resistance [terror] operations using all their means, confront the lawlessness of the occupation and its settlers, and inaugurate a new phase of confrontation until the occupation is pushed back from our land and holy sites.”
Amir Bohbot and Aaron Glick contributed to this report.
