IDF seizes work permits of family of suspected Petah Tikva terrorist

Security forces raided the West Bank home of a suspected terrorist on early Friday morning, a day after a combination shooting-stabbing attack that left five people injured in the central city of Petah Tikva, the army said.

The Israel Defense Forces confiscated the work permits of family members of the alleged assailant, identified by Palestinian media as 18-year-old Sadeq Nasser Abu Mazen from Beita al-Foka, a village south of Nablus.

A number of Abu Mazen’s family members were also questioned, the army said.

On Wednesday evening, the suspected terrorist opened fire at a bus near Petah Tikva’s outdoor market. One man was shot and lightly wounded, while another two women were lightly injured by shrapnel. He then fled the scene, trying to shoot more, but his gun jammed. He was eventually cornered by citizens and stabbed one of them with a screwdriver as they tried to subdue him outside a sewing machine shop.

Police stand guard outside a sewing machine shop where a Palestinian man was captured after he opened fire at a bus outside the Petah Tikva central market on February 9, 2017. Five people were injured in the attack. (Flash90)

Another man, mistaken for the terrorist, was also set upon by a mob and suffered a light head wound before he was rescued by police.

In addition, the army also arrested six people in the northern West Bank as part of a crackdown on Palestinians who illegally enter Israeli territory, normally for work, a spokesperson says. Some of these “illegal infiltrators” have also carried out terror attacks inside Israel.

It was not immediately clear if Abu Mazen had a legal work permit or if he too entered Israel illegally. On Thursday, police placed a gag order on the investigation.

Also overnight, an IDF soldier monitoring surveillance cameras in the Hebron region spotted a suspicious vehicle approaching the security fence that surrounds most of the West Bank.

Troops were called to the scene. Upon searching the car, the soldiers discovered a gun and ammunition inside.

The IDF said the weapon was an M-16 assault rifle. However, a picture of the gun shows that it is more likely a Carlo-style improvised submachine gun, made to look like an M-16.

An illegal gun found in the trunk of a car that had approached the security fence surrounding the southern West Bank in the early morning of February 10, 2017. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

Though the stock, pistol grip and handguard are similar to those on an M-16 — all of which are pieces that can be purchased commercially, as they are not involved in the actual shooting mechanism — the gun seized has a noticeably different type of receiver, one which is far more consistent with Carlo-style submachine guns.

An M-16A2 assault rifle. (Swedish Army Museum/Wikimedia)

When asked about these differences, an IDF spokesperson maintained that the weapon was an M-16 and said the disparities could be the result of home modifications.

A Carlo-style submachine gun is significantly less accurate, reliable and thus far cheaper than an M-16, which can cost tens of thousands of shekels on the West Bank black market.

Another Carlo-style submachine gun belonging to an alleged Hamas member was also located in the West Bank village of Surif, near Hebron, the army said.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli troops picked up 10 more Palestinian suspects who are believed to have taken part in so-called “popular terrorism,” a catch-all term referring to rock throwing and taking part in violent protests.

One person was arrested in Fahma, in the northern West Bank, where troops also uncovered a number of Molotov cocktails and bullets, the army said.

The other nine suspects were also arrested in the northern West Bank, two were from Beit Amin, three from Azoun Atma, one from Beida, one from Utzrin and two from the new Askar refugee camp, outside Nablus.