Investigators believe the terrorist behind Friday’s deadly attack in the Jezreel Valley entered Israel roughly a week before the killings through a known breach in the seam-line security fence near Jerusalem.
The attacker, a resident of Qabatiya in northern West Bank, is suspected of crossing into Israel through the Jerusalem-area gap about 125 kilometers south of where the rampage began near Kibbutz Masillot, leaving Aviv Maor, 18, and Shimshon Mordechai, 68, dead.
A ynet team documented the same breach on Monday, capturing footage of two illegal Palestinian entrants climbing the fence with a rope and entering Jerusalem in broad daylight, without interference.
The breach is located near the Qalandiya checkpoint along the Route 60 security barrier. A day later, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman published a scathing report warning that the Jerusalem-area barrier fails to provide adequate protection against illegal entry or terrorist infiltration.
A known repeat offender
The terrorist, Ahmad Abu al-Rub, 34, was neutralized only after roughly 50 minutes of attacks and is hospitalized in moderate condition. He is known to security forces as a repeat illegal entrant who crossed into Israel multiple times and previously served several months in prison for public order violations. In 2022, he was jailed for illegally entering Israel.
Palestinians crossing into Israel without obstruction
(Video: Liran Tamari)
Investigators suspect he carried out the attack using a vehicle belonging to his employer, a contractor who has since been arrested and is being questioned by the Shin Bet.
IDF launches operation in Qabatiya
The IDF said forces from the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Battalion and the elite Duvdevan unit under Central Command, together with Shin Bet, Border Police and the Israel Prison Service’s Masada unit, launched a counterterrorism operation Friday in Qabatiya.
“During the operation so far, forces raided the home of the terrorist who carried out the attack,” the IDF said. “Shin Bet coordinators questioned suspects on the ground, and together with IDF forces are now conducting mapping ahead of the demolition of the terrorist’s home. Forces continue to search additional locations in the village, arrest wanted individuals and locate weapons.”
Throughout the day, a series of security assessments were held by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth in Beit She’an, and Judea and Samaria Division commander Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller, who is operating in Qabatiya with the Menashe Brigade.
The 50-minute terror rampage
The combined ramming and stabbing attack began in Beit She’an, where the terrorist struck a 16-year-old boy, causing light injuries, then rammed and killed Shimshon Mordechai, a resident with disabilities, dragging him about 50 meters.
From there, the terrorist drove along Highway 71 toward the Ein Harod area. Near the entrance to Kibbutz Tel Yosef, he rammed a vehicle carrying Aviv Maor, 19. After the collision, Maor fled the car, but the terrorist chased her and stabbed her to death.
The rampage ended near Afula, where the terrorist was neutralized by a civilian at the Maonot Junction.
Investigators say the attacker had been in Israel for several days before the attack, raising renewed alarm over gaps in the seam-line barrier and the failure to address documented breaches, despite repeated warnings and real-time footage.