IDF seals bedroom of accused Sarona attack accomplice

Younis Ayash Musa Zayn allegedly armed, trained terrorists who killed 4 in Tel Aviv; army arrests 20 Palestinians overnight

Israeli troops on Thursday filled with cement the bedroom of an accused accomplice involved in June’s Sarona Market terror attack, sealing it off, for his alleged role in the shooting, in which four people died, the army said.

Early Thursday morning, the Israeli forces arrived at Younis Ayash Musa Zayn’s home in the village of Yatta, outside Hebron, with cement trucks.

While several soldiers provided security for the operation, others prepped the bedroom to be sealed off, “in accordance with the orders of the political leadership,” the army said.

On June 8, cousins Khalid and Muhammad Muhamra took a seat at a Max Brenner’s restaurant in Tel Aviv’s posh Sarona Market, ordered dessert and then opened fire with locally produced submachine guns. Four people — Michael Feige, Ilana Naveh, Ido Ben Ari and Mila Mishayev — were killed in the attack, and many more were injured.

Khalid Muhamra, left, Younis Ayash Musa Zayn, center, and Muhammad Muhamra, right, sit behind a glass window during their indictment in a Tel Aviv District Court on July 4, 2016. The three Palestinian men have been charged with murder in connection with the June 8 terror attack at the Sarona Market in central Tel Aviv in which four Israelis were killed. (Flash90) — Khalid Muhamra, left, Younis Ayash Musa Zayn, center, and Muhammad Muhamra, right, sit behind a glass window during their indictment in a Tel Aviv District Court on July 4, 2016. (Flash90)

The cousins, who fled, were arrested near the scene; and Zayn, also known as Younis Awad, was picked up a short while later for assisting them.

He was charged with “planning the attack, providing the weapons and ammunition used for training for it and carrying it out, and hiding [the guns] in his house,” the army said.

In August, the army fully demolished Khalid Muhamra’s home and partially destroyed his cousin Muhammad Muhamra’s, following a court decision.

Israeli security forces at the scene where two Palestinian terrorists opened fire at the Sarona Market shopping center in Tel Aviv, on June 8, 2016. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

Elsewhere in the West Bank early Thursday morning, Israeli troops arrested 20 Palestinian suspects, the army said.

One of them was picked up in the village of Mirka, southwest of Jenin, for allegedly running an illegal gunsmithing workshop, the army said.

A pistol and ammunition found in an alleged gunsmithing workshop in the Palestinian village of Mirka, outside Jenin, on November 10, 2016. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit) — A pistol and ammunition found in an alleged gunsmithing workshop in the Palestinian village of Mirka, outside Jenin, on November 10, 2016. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

Inside the workshop, soldiers found a homemade gun, a pistol and some bullets, which were all handed over to the Shin Bet security service, the army added.

Five of the detainees were arrested for alleged membership to the Hamas terrorist organization, while the remaining 14 were picked up for throwing rocks or taking part in violent riots against security forces, the army said.