Israeli security forces have killed the Palestinian gunman who carried out a deadly shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Bruchin earlier this month, the military said Wednesday. Two other suspects were arrested in connection with the attack.
The IDF said troops from its Ephraim Brigade, operating with Shin Bet intelligence guidance, encountered the suspect last Saturday during a raid in the Palestinian village of Bruqin, near the site of the May 14 shooting in which Tzeela Gez, an Israeli civilian, was killed.
According to the military, the suspect ran toward the soldiers holding a bag believed to be rigged with explosives and shouting at them. The soldiers opened fire and killed him. No Israeli forces were injured.
The Shin Bet identified the assailant as Nael Samara, a former Hamas member who served a prison sentence for terror activity and was briefly detained again in 2019 for incitement on social media. Authorities said he used an M-16 rifle and other weapons found in the bag he was carrying during the encounter.
Following an investigation by the Shin Bet, the IDF and the Israel Police's Judea and Samaria District, officials determined Samara was responsible for the Bruchin attack that killed Gez.
Two additional suspects were arrested during the investigation, including the alleged head of the cell. Authorities believe the group was behind three other recent shooting attacks in the area, including a March 12 incident near Ariel that wounded an Israeli civilian.