Jerusalem, 8 May, 2022 (TPS) — The two Arab terrorists who carried out the massacre in Elad on Thursday night were captured alive Sunday morning by Israel’s security forces.
After an intensive manhunt that lasted close to 60 hours, Assad Yussef Al-Rafa’i, 19, and Tzabhi Imad Abu Shakir, 20, were captured while hiding in a bush near the city of Elad. The terrorists were in the wooded area near Elad without water and food throughout the weekend, and were caught exhausted and tired and could not resist arrest.
The Shin Bet security service stated that the combined pursuit included the use of technological, and intelligence gathering forces, as well as special units, including the commando brigade and Israel Police helicopters.
Minister of Public Security Omer Barlev congratulated the security forces on capturing the two terrorists.
“In the last two days, the best forces in the police, the Shin Bet, and the IDF have worked together to get their hands on them, and so it has happened. The intensive activity along a complex terrain route deserves all praise. We will continue to pursue with determination those who seek our harm at any time, and everywhere, and we will reach them,” he said.
Reports indicate that one of the terrorists left behind a will before committing the attack, in which he stated that the reason he carried out the attack was the alleged damage Israel was causing to the Temple Mount, a direct result of Hamas’ incitement on the issue.
The attack on Thursday evening, which began as Israel was concluding its 74th Independence Day celebrations, occurred at the center of the city, where the two terrorists, in Israel illegally, had previously worked at a construction site.
Running through the streets with axes, the terrorists killed Yonatan Havakuk, a father of five Boaz Gol, a father of five, and Oren Ben Yiftach, a father of six, and wounded several others. They are believed to have fled the scene in a vehicle.
The massacre in Elad was the seventh deadly attack in Israel in as many weeks and occurred less than a week after the latest attack in which Vyacheslav Golev, a security guard, was murdered in a shooting in Ariel in Samaria.
In the attack before that, a terrorist from Jenin shot and killed three Israelis in the heart of Tel Aviv. Before that, a terrorist from Yabed shot and killed five people in the city of Bnei Brak. In the second attack, two Islamist terrorists shot and killed two Israelis in the city of Hadera. In Be’er Sheva, a terrorist stabbed and murdered four Israelis. Jerusalem has been the scene of several attacks as well.