Revising conclusions, IDF believes Shevah’s killer still on the loose
Despite original IDF assessment that the head of the terror cell behind Rabbi Shevah’s murder had been eliminated during operations in Jenin, Palestinians say no body was found in the rubble of the terrorists home that was demolished.
Israeli security force are continuing the manhunt for the terrorist who murdered Rabbi Raziel Shevah in a drive-by shooting last week, after Palestinians announced Friday that a body had not been found inside a building where the IDF originally believed it had killed the murderer in an overnight shootout in Jenin.
With the latest announcement, it is believed that the terrorist, identified as Ahmed Jarrar, is alive and on the run, contrary to the IDF original conclusion.
An initial investigation of Wednesday evening's events in Jenin reveal that at first, a Palestinian opened fire at the Border Police's counterterrorism Yamam, injuring two soldiers, one seriously.
Despite sustaining serious injuries, the soldier managed to retreat, assist his fellow soldier and return fire while reporting on the radio the details of the encounter. The gunman was then taken out by the forces.
A while later, under fire, the wounded soldier received treatment in the field before being evacuated to Haemek Medical Center in Afula. According to medical experts, the soldier's life was saved by the initial treatment.
During the approximately 12-hour operation, deep in the heart of Palestinian territory, the gunman was killed and two Palestinians arrested. It is not yet clear whether they belonged to the terror cell which killed Shevah, a father of 6.
Following the Palestinian announcement, the Yamam unit reinvigorated efforts to catch the wanted terrorist who, it transpired, they failed to capture during Wednesday's mission.
Since the operation, assessments point to the conclusion that the terrorist did manage to escape. However, further doubt has been cast on whether he was indeed even in the Jenin home that was surrounded and destroyed early Thursday morning by IDF combat engineers.
Efforts to locate the fugitive are being led by intelligence units in tandem with the hunt by ground forces to find additional terrorists involved, as well as those who might have assisted the cell.
During the last ten days, the Shin Bet has been investing huge efforts into solving the terror attack by means of its sources on the ground and by utilizing technological capabilites.
As the search continues, security forces are struggling to come to terms with how the organized terror cell, likely Hamas affiliated, managed to carry out the attack without being stopped in advance.
According to the Shin Bet's statistics, they have successfully foiled 148 such Hamas terror cells in the West Bank—a figure the agency says is indicative of Hamas's determination to export terror from Gaza to the West Bank.
Ilana and Moshe Shevah, the parents of last week's victim, visited the wounded Yamam fighter at Haemek Medical Center in Afula on Thursday to thank them for their efforts to capture their son's murderer.
On Friday, the IDF arrested four Palestinians in the village of al-Yamun, near Jenin, as part of the ongoing manhunt. Surveillance cameras were also confiscated from the home of those arrested.
