The IDF significantly increased its forces and bolstered its intelligence operations in Samaria on Wednesday after an Israeli father of six was killed in a drive-by shooting terror attack near Nablus the previous day.
The victim of the attack, 35-year-old Raziel Shevah, was pronounced dead at Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba in central Israel shortly after arriving there Tuesday. On Tuesday night, the IDF conducted searches in the area of Nablus and closed off several Palestinian villages amid efforts to track down the terrorists behind the attack.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot visited the scene of the terror attack Wednesday morning, and was briefed on the details of the shooting as well as the IDF’s increased operations in the area.
“The main task at the moment is to locate the [terror] cell and to prevent it from carrying out further attacks,” Eisenkot said.
The Gaza-ruling Palestinian terror group Hamas praised the attack Tuesday night, saying in a statement, “We bless the heroic Nablus operation which comes as a result of the Zionist occupation’s violations and crimes at the expense of our people in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
In response to the terror attack, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman tweeted Wednesday that the reason why there is no peacebetween Israelis and Palestinians is the Palestinian Authority’s official support for terrorism.
