Who carried out the Hebron operation that killed 3 Israeli soldiers?

Field reports and official statements have identified the perpetrator of the Tarqumiya operation in Hebron, in which 3 Israeli soldiers were killed on Sunday morning, amid a fierce campaign being carried out by the occupation in various cities and towns in the West Bank.

So what exactly happened in Tarqumiya?

The Israeli occupation announced this morning, Sunday, that 3 members of the occupation police and Israeli border guard forces were killed in an operation east of the Tarqumiya military crossing, west of Hebron.

The occupation army explained that gunmen opened fire on a police car, and announced that the car used by the gunmen was found near the site of the attack.

In the details of the operation, the Israeli radio Kan said that the perpetrators fired 11 bullets at the targeted car near the Tarqumiya checkpoint.

For its part, the Israeli Army Radio reported that the attackers opened fire from a distance of one kilometer from the Tarqumiya checkpoint.

Video clips showed the arrival of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the shooting site. The Israeli occupation army later announced that it had killed the perpetrator of the Tarqumiya operation.

How did the resistance deal with the operation?

Hamas said that the heroic resistance operations in the West Bank, the latest of which was in Hebron, are a natural response to what it described as the Israeli war of extermination in Gaza and the crimes in the West Bank.

The movement called on everyone carrying weapons to direct their bullets at the occupiers who continue to commit massacres in the steadfast Gaza Strip, in a statement.

It also called on Palestinians in cities and camps to set fire to the occupation and block the settlers' roads by all means.

For its part, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine described the operation as heroic, and said that it "sends a strong message to the enemy that the train of fedayeen operations is moving relentlessly," adding that Israel should expect more attacks.

Who is behind the operation?

Sources told Al Jazeera that the perpetrator of the operation was the martyr Muhannad Al-Aswad, a resident of the town of Idhna in Hebron, who was a member of the guard of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before he resigned in 2015.

Al Jazeera broadcasted pictures showing the house where the occupation forces surrounded the perpetrator of the Tarqumiya operation in Hebron for about two hours.

The martyr Muhammad Al-Aswad set up an ambush for an Israeli police car in Hebron, and when it approached, he opened fire and killed three officers instantly with only 11 bullets, and then withdrew from the scene.

He hid in an old, abandoned house in Hebron, away from civilians, waiting for the army that was chasing him. The army asked him to surrender, but he refused.… https://t.co/PGC52CkBd0 pic.twitter.com/T3wlJKZP3H

— Tamer | Tamer (@tamerqdh) September 1, 2024

For his part, an Israeli army spokesman said that the suspect in the shooting at the police car in the town of Idhna was eliminated after he barricaded himself inside a house in Hebron.

What is the significance of the operation at this time?

Military and strategic expert, Colonel Hatem Al-Falahi, described the operation as qualitative and well-planned.

He said that the perpetrators studied the operation and relied on accurate intelligence information in carrying it out and withdrawing to a safe location.

Colonel Al-Falahi stressed - in his comment on the Hebron operation - that the battle was imposed on the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank due to the military operation that the occupation army is waging in the region for the fifth day.

He pointed out that if the resistance factions wanted to open the West Bank front after October 7, they would have done so.

The timing of the Israeli military operation in the West Bank raises many question marks, according to Colonel Al-Falahi, who links the timing to the Israeli project that aims - according to him - to end the Palestinian presence in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and impose a new reality that hinders the establishment of the Palestinian state.

Source: Al Jazeera