Israeli security forces operated in the Palestinian Authority (PA) town of Yabed early Wednesday morning and arrested several suspects in connection with the terror attack in Beni Brak in which a terrorist, Dia Khamarsha, shot and killed five victims.
Israeli forces raided the Khamarsha home and arrested the terrorist’s brother and several of his relatives.
The IDF and the Shin Bet are investigating whether Khamarsha’s relatives or friends were aware of his plans and assisted him. They are also investigating how he obtained the weapon he used in the attack, possibly provided to him by terrorists inside Israel.
Other reports say that IDF forces arrested two of the terrorist’s relatives in Jenin, both released prisoners. According to Arab reports, one of the detainees is Adnan Khamarsha, who has previously served prison sentences in Israel for terrorist activities. His son, Amar Khamarsha, a released terrorist, was also arrested.
Dia Khamarsha, 26, was sentenced to six months in prison after being convicted of belonging to a terrorist organization and trafficking in weapons. He was shot and killed by a police officer after a gun battle in which another police officer was shot and killed.
IDF forces carried out counterterrorism operations throughout Judea and Samaria on Tuesday night in the Balata refugee camp in Shechem (Nablus), Bethlehem, the village of Kadum, Ramallah, and the villages south of Bethlehem.
One of the detainees is Hussein Abiyat, the son of Atef Abiyat, a senior terrorist from Bethlehem who was killed by the IDF while on his way to carry out an attack in 2001 during the Second Intifada.
Similarly, the Border Police and the Shin Bet operated in the areas of Wadi Ara and Nazareth on Tuesday and arrested five suspects following the terror attack in Hadera on Sunday night, in which two Islamist terrorists shot and killed two Border Police troops.
In an IDF situational assessment, it was decided to deploy additional troops to the area of Judea and Samaria.
The IDF and the Shin Bet have arrested some 600 terror suspects since the beginning of 2022.
Security tensions in Israel are high, after a series of terror attacks in the Jerusalem area and the murder of four Israelis in Be’er Sheva and another two in Hadera by Islamist terrorists, and ahead of the Muslim month of Ramadan, which usually spells an uptick in Muslim violence and acts of terrorism in Israel.
The country’s security establishment is bracing for violence, especially as Ramadan coincides with Passover, and following the first anniversary of Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, which was launched by the IDF following a Hamas rocket attack on Jerusalem that began at the height of the Month of Ramadan.
