Israeli security forces on Saturday arrested the second of two suspects behind a shooting in Beit El in Samaria on Friday, together with two other individuals believed to have assisted the attackers. The suspect was identified as Muhammad Oden.
The other main suspect, Hamas operative Kays Shajaia, was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Friday. Shajaia was a resident of Dayr Jarir, where the other three suspects were arrested. According to the Israeli military, Shajaia had previously spend time in Israeli prison for “terror involvement.”
On Friday, Beit El resident Yonatan Nizri was sitting in his sukkah together with his family when his chair was hit by a bullet, lightly wounding him with shrapnel. He described to Channel 12 News how he at first did not realize what had happened.
“I was sitting at a holiday table with my wife and child. We were singing, and in one moment the atmosphere went black,” he said. Nizri recalled hearing gunshots shortly before being hit, but thinking nothing of it because gunfire and fireworks are regularly heard from Arab villages in the area. Then, however, he felt a “punch to the jaw,” and his vision blurred.
Once he understood that they were being shot at, he rushed his wife and child into the home before noticing that he was bleeding. He was soon afterwards evacuated to hospital, where doctors decided to leave one of the pieces of shrapnel in his jaw for the time being to avoid a complex surgery.
A force of Israel Defense Forces Paratroopers stationed on a nearby rooftop fired at the shooter, killing him, according to Channel 12.
Israeli forces found “weapons, uniforms and propaganda materials” in Oden’s residence following his arrest on Saturday, the IDF said. A weapon used in the Bet El shooting was also located.
“The weapon was transferred to forensics and the investigation of the suspect that was arrested this morning remains ongoing,” said the military.
