Suspects in Ariel shooting scoped out attack site, saw it as a weak point — report
The two terrorists who killed a security guard at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Ariel scoped out the location before the attack, and identified it as vulnerable, according to a Saturday report.
Vyacheslav Golev, 23, was gunned down inside a guard booth at the gate to the settlement. His fiancée, also a guard, was in the post during the attack. Golev used his body to shield her from the hail of bullets, saving her life, according to military officials.
Counterterrorism forces arrested two Palestinians allegedly behind the attack on Saturday evening. Palestinian media named the two as Sameeh Assi and Yahya Marei, both in their 20s.
Before the attack, the pair drove to the area, went to a high point overlooking the settlement entrance, and observed the community’s gate and its security, the Ynet news site reported.
The attackers, who were from the area, knew the area well and were already familiar with the entrance to the settlement. They had identified the security post as a potential weak point, especially on Friday nights, when there was less security and traffic in the area was light, the report said.
Sameeh Assi and Yahya Marei, arrested in the Palestinian city Salfit on April 30, 2022, for a terror attack on April 29 at the entrance to the Ariel settlement in which security guard Vyacheslav Golev was killed. (Israel TV screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright law)
After surveilling the guard post, they drove toward it, and realized that no guards were outside the post. Usually, two guards were outside the settlement gate in two different spots.
The Kan public broadcaster said the attackers drove past the guard post twice before the attack to check the gate and see what the guards were doing.
The suspects first opened fire from inside their vehicle, hitting Golev, but noticed movement in the structure behind him, and realized a second person was inside.
They exited the vehicle and continued firing, aiming to hit the second guard, but did not manage to hit Golev’s fiancée, Victoria Fligelman, who was uninjured in the shooting.
After the attack, the suspected terrorists drove away for around 20 minutes, traveling a few kilometers, and arrived in an open area, where they torched the vehicle.
Israeli security and rescue personnel at the scene of a shooting attack, at the entrance to Ariel, in the West Bank, on April 30, 2022 (Flash90)
The car had an Israeli license plate belonging to another vehicle that had been taken off the road, Ynet said.
Security officials had figured out the attackers’ identities within two hours of the shooting, the report said.
Their homes, both in the same village, were put under surveillance, and on Saturday, special forces approached both houses at the same time. The arrest operation was conducted by the police Yamam unit, Israel Defense Forces troops and Shin Bet officers.
The Israeli troops fired toward the houses, and moments later, the two suspects emerged with their hands raised. Minutes after that, they revealed the location of the guns they used in the attack.
On Sunday morning the IDF released footage of the arrests.
סרטון בנושא תפיסת המחבלים: pic.twitter.com/V6QfevrblL
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Security forces have determined that the attack was not directed by any terror group, but one of the shooters is affiliated with Hamas.
The attack was claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a coalition of armed groups affiliated with the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party, however. The terror group was also behind the deadly attack in Bnei Brak last month.
Both of the suspects were barred from entering Israel, and one briefly served time in an Israeli prison at some point, Ynet reported. They are not related to each other.
Footage of the attack showed a blue Suzuki vehicle driving up to a guard post, where a gunman in the passenger seat opened fire.
The gunman and the driver then both got out and both fired into the guard post before driving off. Golev’s death was declared at the scene.
The gunmen apparently used improvised Carlo submachine guns, according to an image published by police on Saturday.
Golev, a 23-year-old former student at Ariel University is survived by his parents and seven siblings in Beit Shemesh, and his fiancée.
An undated photo of Vyacheslav Golev who was killed in a shooting attack near Ariel on April 29, and his fiancée, Victoria Fligelman. (Courtesy)
He will be buried in Beit Shemesh on Sunday.
Also overnight Friday-Saturday, Palestinians reported that a man was killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank village of Azzun, near Qalqilya, during clashes in the area.
The attack on Ariel came as tensions have risen sharply between Israel and the Palestinians in recent weeks against the backdrop of repeated terror attacks in Israeli cities that left 14 dead.
The escalation has come amid the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — often a period of high tension in Israel and the West Bank.
The army has stepped up its West Bank activities in an attempt to crack down on the spiraling violence. The ensuing raids sparked clashes that left at least 25 Palestinians dead, many of whom took part in the clashes, while others appeared to have been uninvolved civilians.