2023-09-04 09:07:55
The Shin Bet internal security agency announced on Sunday that the Israeli army had arrested a Palestinian gunman suspected of carrying out an April shooting attack in Kibbutz Meirav, adjacent to the security fence in the northern West Bank.
Yousef Abu al-Roub, 32, from the village of Jalbun near Jenin in the northern West Bank, reportedly opened fire in the town on April 18, damaging a house.
The Shin Bet said a second suspect, Mohammed al-Roub, 35, affiliated with the Islamic State terror group, was arrested for allegedly supplying the weapon to al-Roub. The agency clarified that this is not the first time that Mohammed has been detained by Israel for various acts of terrorism.
The weapon, a homemade Carlo submachine gun, was given to security troops at the Salem checkpoint by Yousef’s father, the Shin Bet said.
Yousef confessed to carrying out the attack and said during interrogation that he had been taking pictures of the kibbutz for several months and had sent them to Mohammed.
He added that he also fired several shots at Israeli troops in the area, according to the Shin Bet, without confirming this claim.
A makeshift ‘Carlo’ submachine gun used in an attack on the northern city of Meirav on April 18, 2023. (Shin Bet)
Both men were charged last week with serious security violations, the agency added.
The local regional council said the shots from the April 18 attack appeared to have come from Jalbun. There were no injuries, but a house in the community was hit.
Earlier in April, several homes in nearby Kibbutz Maale Gilboa were damaged by bullets. A branch of Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said at the time that the homes targeted were in Meirav.
While it is not uncommon for Israelis to be the target of gunshot attacks, these attacks most often occur inside the Green Line; it is rarer for Israeli civilians to be targeted inside Israel.
Over the past year and a half, violence has escalated in the West Bank, with an increase in Palestinian shootings against Israeli civilians and soldiers, almost daily arrests by the army and an upsurge in acts of reprisal against Palestinians, perpetrated by residents of extremist Jewish settlers.
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