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Israeli security forces captured the Hamas terror cell that murdered a young Jewish couple in the presence of their four children last week.
Israeli security forces captured the terror cell that carried out the attack last Thursday evening near the community of Itamar in Samaria, in which Eitam and Naama Enkin were shot to death while traveling with their four young children, the Shabak (Israel’s Security Agency) announced Monday.
The terrorists admitted their involvement in the murder of the Henkins. They also confessed to having carried out two previous terror attacks in the area.
The five-member terror cell, affiliated with Hamas in Shechem (Nablus), was well organized, and each member had a defined role.
One terrorist checked the route. Three terrorists participated in the actual attack – a driver and two attackers. The cell commander was not in the vehicle, but he was responsible for logistics and finance.
Several additional suspects have been arrested on suspicion of aiding the cell.
The cell commander, Raeb Ahmed Muhammad Alivi, 37, was active in Hamas’s military wing. Previously incarcerated in an Israeli prison, he recruited the members of the cell, instructed them and provided them with weapons.
Yehye Muhammad Naif Abdallah Haj Hamed, 24, pulled the trigger in the attack. He, too, had been involved in other acts of terror.
Samir Zahir Ibrahim Kusa, 33, drove the vehicle to the attack.
Zid Ziad Jamil Amar, 26, a resident of Nablus, checked the route beforehand.
Kerem Lutfy Fathi Razek, 23, set out to the attack armed with a pistol but was mistakenly shot and wounded by his colleague during the attack.
This caused the cell to flee the scene hastily, seeking medical treatment for Razek. Their mistake saved the lives of the Henkin children, who would have otherwise been murdered as well. This detail on the incident negates earlier reports that the terrorists, in a show of humanity, spared the children’s lives.
Security forces found the handgun in the vicinity of the attack, which helped in the search for the terrorists.
Palestinian sources reported that IDF forces arrested Razek while he was hospitalized in Shechem.
See video that reportedly captures the arrest below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdTZsoC62Fw
The terrorists said during their investigation that on the evening of the attack, two of them traveled on the route and selected the point from which they would open fire. Afterwards they picked up the other members, one of whom checked the route again.
Upon hearing that the route was clear, the cell set out, identified the Henkin vehicle and opened fire. After the vehicle stopped, two cell members left their car and fired at the couple again from very close range.
The cell members also said that they had been involved in two shooting attacks in recent weeks, neither of which resulted in casualties, including an attack on August 30 near the entrance to the city of Kedumim.
The investigation of the cell members is continuing, the Shabak said.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel
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