The IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police arrested two Palestinians early Tuesday morning suspected of carrying out the shooting attack in which preschool teacher Batsheva Nigri, a mother of three, was murdered near Hebron on Monday, according to a joint statement by the security forces.
During initial questioning by Israeli security forces, the two Palestinians tied themselves to the attack. The weapon used in the attack was seized by Israeli forces after the arrest.
The arrest took place in the southern part of Hebron at their family’s home, although the family did not seem to have been aware of their terror activity prior to the arrest. It is still unclear if the suspects are tied to or received support from a terrorist organization.
Nigri, 42, was shot to death in front of her 12-year-old daughter on Monday morning on Route 60 in the West Bank after hitching a ride from her Beit Hagai home to nearby Kiryat Arba. Nigri’s daughter was unharmed and alerted emergency services.
The driver, Aryeh Gottlieb, 39, also of Beit Hagai, was in serious but stable condition from gunshot wounds after undergoing surgery at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant seen leading a security assessment on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 (credit: ARIEL HERMONI/DEFENSE MINISTRY)Defense Minister Yoav Gallant voiced his appreciation for Israeli security forces on Tuesday morning, vowing that the terrorists will “rot in prison for the rest of their lives.”
“We will use every tool at our disposal to strengthen security,” Gallant wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We will pursue and reach our enemies.”
הערכה ללוחמי צה״ל, ימ״מ ושב״כ על מבצע מהיר ומדוייק.המחבלים שרצחו באכזריות את בת שבע ניגרי ז״ל ינמקו בכלא לשארית חייהם. ננקוט בכל האמצעים כדי לחזק את הביטחון. נרדוף ונשיג את אויבנו.
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) August 22, 2023
On Tuesday, N12 reported that in an interview with Al-Jazeera, the Hamas terrorist group claimed that the perpetrators of the attack were among its members.
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian militant during clashes that followed a military arrest raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Islamic Jihad armed group said.
The Israeli military said its forces came under fire from suspects who threw explosives at soldiers in the confrontations near the flashpoint city of Jenin and that the soldiers “responded with live fire and identified a hit.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the death of a 17-year-old there. Islamic Jihad said he was a member of the group and gave his age as 18.
The military said it arrested a total of 32 Palestinian suspects overnight between Monday and Tuesday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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