IDF chief urges vigilance at site of deadly terror attack in Judea

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted a preliminary assessment on Thursday night at the scene of the terrorist attack at the Gush Etzion Junction shopping mall in Judea where Shalev Zvuluny was murdered.

Zamir instructed soldiers to continue counter-terrorism operations across Judea and Samaria, emphasizing that the swift response and vigilance of the IDF and civilian security personnel played a crucial role in preventing a much larger and more devastating attack.

Zamir was joined by the head of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and the commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf.

Zvuluny, 22, a resident of the Jewish community of Kiryat Arba near Hebron, was employed as a security guard at the mall.

The slain terrorists were named by Arab media as Mahmoud Abed, from the nearby Palestinian village of Halhul, and Malik Salem, from Tulkarem in Samaria. Both reportedly served in the Palestinian Authority’s police forces.

Following the attack, IDF troops set up roadblocks and encircled Halhul, located in the Hebron area about five miles southwest of the Gush Etzion Junction, the IDF said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Gush Etzion Regional Council head Yaron Rosenthal to offer support, his office stated.

Netanyahu “offered condolences on behalf of himself and his wife to the family of the victim of the brutal shooting attack, as well as a speedy recovery to the injured,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The premier “praised citizens and security forces who acted with great resourcefulness and eliminated the vile terrorists, and said that we will not allow terror to raise its head in Judea and Samaria,” the PMO added.