Israeli security forces in Jenin on Thursday apprehended a Palestinian aide to the terrorists who carried out a shooting attack on Jan. 6 in which three Israelis were murdered and eight more were wounded, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police said in a joint statement.
The arrested man, Muhammad Zidan, was formerly a senior figure in the terrorist network in Jenin and was involved in financing terrorist elements and advancing terrorist activity against the State of Israel, the statement read.
The Border Police’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit (Yamam) carried out the operation together with IDF troops, under the guidance of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).
Three terrorists carried out the shooting that killed sisters-in-law Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Rice, 70, and Israel Police Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein, 35.
The attack took place on Route 55 next to the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, located close to Kedumim in northern Samaria. Two of the assailants were killed near Jenin on Jan. 22, 2025. The third was arrested in April and the mastermind behind the attack was detained the following month.
Meanwhile, IDF troops concluded a week of counter-terrorism activities throughout Judea and Samaria in which dozens of terrorists were arrested, firearms and ammunition were confiscated, and a total of three million shekels ($970,000) in terror funds were seized, the military said on Friday.
In the Samaria Regional Brigade are of responsibility, more than 30 terrorists were apprehended, and parts for assembling bombs, M16 rifles and military equipment that had been hidden inside shops in the Balata area on the eastern outskirts of Nablus were confiscated, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
Forces of the Menashe Regional Brigade responsible for the Jenin area arrested wanted suspects affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In addition to Kalashnikov rifles, military equipment and terror funds valued at tens of thousands of shekels that were confiscated, paraphernalia containing ISIS emblems was found, the army said.
Hamas terrorists who had thrown Molotov cocktails toward the Jewish community of Beit El, north of Ramallah, were apprehended by the Binyamin Regional Brigade.
All suspects were transferred to the Shin Bet and the Judea and Samaria District Police for further handling.
