Itongadol.- IDF units raided the West Bank town of Dura overnight between Sunday and Monday, arresting 10 people suspected of abetting 29-year-old Muhammad Fakia, who shot dead Rabbi Michael Mark in a terrorist drive-by on July 1. Those arrested include Fakia\’s relatives.
Fakia was shot dead in a heavy exchange of fire with security forces in Tzurif, near Hebron, last week. During that raid, Fakia, armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, opened fire on IDF units that raided his hideout, and soldiers returned fire using anti-tank missiles, before bulldozing the building in which had barricaded himself. Fakia was the gunman who fired from a moving vehicle on Rabbi Mark\’s vehicle on Route 60, killing him and injuring Mark\’s wife and two children.
During the overnight raid on Monday in Dura, security forces arrested weapons dealers suspected of assisting Fakia.
Separately, the IDF, Border Police, and Shin Bet intelligence agency shut down three weapons workshops in Kalkilya. Elsewhere across the West Bank, the IDF and Shin Bet arrested 27 wanted security suspects overnight.
The Shin Bet also announced it had arrested Palestinian Authority security forces member Ahayub Knaza in Nablus, on suspicion of acting as a senior weapons manufacturer and dealer in the Palestinian city.
Earlier, on Sunday night, security guards from the Defense Ministry\’s Crossings Authority intercepted an attempt to smuggle six pipe bombs into Israel from the West Bank.
The guards checked a vehicle with Israeli license plates that arrived at the Trans-Samaria checkpoint on Route 5. The vehicle, driven by an Israeli Arab, was found to contain the explosive materials, and a police bomb squad arrived at the checkpoint to investigate further, closing the highway in both directions.
The suspect told security forces he was on his way back from the West Bank. He was taken into custody.