Israel Defense Forces continued to operate Tuesday afternoon in the Palestinian Authority Arab village of Beit Surik, home to Nimer Mahmoud Ahmad Jamal, 37, the terrorist who murdered three Israelis and wounded a fourth earlier in the day.
“As part of the operation, IDF and Border Police forces swept the village, raided the terrorist’s home and blockaded the village,” the IDF said in a statement. “Various forces and intelligence methods were deployed, visible and hidden, in the roads and paths [around the village] in order to ensure security in the area.”
Three suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the deadly attack that took the lives of Border Guard Police St. Sgt. Solomon Gaviriya, 20, of Be’er Yaacov and two private security guards who were working for Har Adar – local resident Or Arish, 25, and Youssef Ottman, 24, of Abu Ghosh.
Gaviriya, who was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, is survived by his parents and three siblings. He was laid to rest Tuesday afternoon in Be’er Yaacov.
Ottman was also laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon, in the cemetery in his hometown of Abu Ghosh, with a ceremony conducted in Arabic and English by Mayor Issa Jaber, and attended by Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev.
The Har Adar security coordinator, Amit Steinhart, 33, sustained gunshot wounds in the shoulder and hip, and after surgery is hospitalized in fair condition at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center.
Israel Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld spoke of the heroism shown by the three police officers who gave their lives to protect the community.
“There was no specific intelligence of the attack,” Rosenfeld pointed out, adding that “as soon as it took place they responded quickly and effectively at the scene, and saved multiple lives.”
The security alert level has been raised in Jerusalem and Har Adar at least through the upcoming holy day of Yom Kippur, which begins at sunset this Friday.