WEST BANK SHOOTING VICTIMS IDENTIFIED: KIM YEHEZKEL (29), ZIV HAJBANI (35)
Two of the victims, a man and woman in their 30's, were fatally wounded and later passed away and one, a woman in her 50's, was in moderate condition, according to Magen David Adom.
OCTOBER 7, 2018 15:01
MADA on the Barkan terror attack, October 7, 2018 (MADA)
Two people were killed and one was seriously wounded in a terror attack in the Barkan Industrial Park in the Samaria region of the West Bank on Sunday morning.
The fatalities were identified as 29 year-old Kim Levengrond Yehezkel of the central Israeli city of Rosh Ha’ayin and 35 year-old Ziv Hajbani from Rishon Letzion.
The fatalities were identified as 29 year-old Kim Levengrond Yehezkel of the central Israeli city of Rosh Ha’ayin and 35 year-old Ziv Hajbani from Rishon Letzion.
This is the first terror attack in the park — which employs both Israelis and Palestinians — and is considered to be an oasis of coexistence where members of both groups can come together.
The Palestinian suspect, identified in Israeli media as 23-year-old Ashraf Abu Shaham from the village of Shweika near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, had no previous security-related history. Abu Shaham had a permit to work at the Barkan park, where he was employed at a factory for the past seven months as an electrician,though he had not shown up work for the past few weeks.
The shooter entered a factory building and shot at two women and one man before fleeing. He can be seen in security footage running away from the scene with a rifle in his hand.
According to Walla! News, Abu Shaham bound the victims before shooting them at close range.
The IDF said it is looking into the security breach that enabled him to bring a weapon into the industrial park.
Hadashot TV reported that the gunman also left a suicide note with a friend who worked at the same factory several days ago. The friend, who did not report the letter, was arrested by security forces who are investigating whether the attack could have been prevented.
Security forces are currently conducting a large-scale manhunt to capture Abu Shaham, who escaped following the shooting and is believed to still be armed with the Carl Gustav weapon he used in the attack.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot later toured the factory and held a situational assessment with the head of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Nadav Padanת after which it was decided to send additional troops from the central command and Samaria Brigade to the area.
The Border Police's counterterrorism Yamam unit as well as troops from the IDF’s elite Duvdevan, Lotar and Oketz Units and Shin Bet forces are taking part in the manhunt and entered his village Sunday afternoon.
Checkpoints in the Samaria region were closed in order to catch the shooter.
The IDF said that its as sending additional troops into the West Bank in the aftermath of the attack.
"Upon arriving to the scene, 'we found complete chaos. We were told that there were injured inside the building, and upon entering, we found a man and woman in one of the rooms, where they were unresponsive with no pulse and not breathing.
“Following a medical assessment we were forced to pronounce them deceased," MDA Paramedics David Baruhi and Neria Tekoa. "We searched the scene and found another 54 year old woman under one of the tables. She was fully responsive with a gunshot wound to her upper body. With the help of MDA EMT Hadas Wilps, we extricated her and provided lifesaving medical treatment including hemorrhage control and medications, and we evacuated her to Belinson [Hospital in Petah Tikva] with severe yet stable injuries.
“During the evacuation, she was interacting with us, and was able to recount the incident. She also requested that we notify her family, which we did,” the paramedics said.
“We are declaring this a terror attack, one hundred percent, but there could be other reasons behind it,” Manelis said, referring to reports that Abu Shaham may have been fired from the factory.
Posts on the shooter’s Facebook page helped the IDF make such a declaration. Earlier in the day he wrote that he was “waiting for [Allah].”
While the IDF believes that he acted alone, both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad applauded the attack.
“The Hamas movement and the Palestinian people everywhere praise the heroic operation near the Ariel settlement,” Hamas said in a statement. “We applaud this heroic operation and affirm that it comes as a natural response to the Israeli occupation’s crimes at the expense of the Palestinian people.”
Minister Of Defense Avigdor Liberman wrote on his Twitter account that it was only a matter of time until the IDF would catch the assailant.
"The IDF and the security forces are conducting a wide-scale hunt for the terrorist who committed the serious attack in Barkan, and it is only a matter of time before we get him into our hands," he tweeted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened the weekly cabinet meeting by sending his condolences to the victims’ families.
“The security forces are in pursuit of the reprehensible murderer. I am certain that they will apprehend him and I am also certain that we will deal with him to the fullest extent of the law and quickly,” Netanyahu said.
According to the IDF some 330 illegal weapons have been confiscated from Palestinians in 2018, 100 of which were taken in the last month alone.
"I am shocked and saddened by this morning's terrible terrorist attack at the Barkan industrial area," President Reuven Rivlin said. "Our hearts are with the families of those who were killed, and our prayers are with those who are injured. This was not only an attack on innocent people going about their daily lives, it was also an attack on the possibility of Israelis and Palestinians co-existing peacefully.
“I call on the Palestinian leadership to condemn this murderous attack and to use the forces at their disposal to capture the terrorist and those who aided him.
“Our thanks to the medics who gave quick and live-saving assistance, and to the IDF and security forces who are ensuring the perpetrators are apprehended. We will not rest until every one of th
“The security forces are in pursuit of the reprehensible murderer. I am certain that they will apprehend him and I am also certain that we will deal with him to the fullest extent of the law and quickly,” Netanyahu said.
According to the IDF some 330 illegal weapons have been confiscated from Palestinians in 2018, 100 of which were taken in the last month alone.
"I am shocked and saddened by this morning's terrible terrorist attack at the Barkan industrial area," President Reuven Rivlin said. "Our hearts are with the families of those who were killed, and our prayers are with those who are injured. This was not only an attack on innocent people going about their daily lives, it was also an attack on the possibility of Israelis and Palestinians co-existing peacefully.
“I call on the Palestinian leadership to condemn this murderous attack and to use the forces at their disposal to capture the terrorist and those who aided him.
“Our thanks to the medics who gave quick and live-saving assistance, and to the IDF and security forces who are ensuring the perpetrators are apprehended. We will not rest until every one of th
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