Israeli civilian security guard killed in West Bank hammer attack
Military says troops pursuing Palestinian terrorist who hit security guard in the head with a hammer and stole his handgun at Bar-On industrial park
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
An Israeli civilian security guard was killed in a terror attack at the Bar-On industrial park near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim on Sunday, the military and medics said.
The man, later identified as Gidon Peri, 38, had reported to the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday that he had been attacked by a Palestinian assailant with a hammer.
Peri was on duty in the industrial park, located in the northern West Bank, at the time of the attack.
According to medics who arrived on the scene of the attack, Peri was hit in the head with a hammer.
He was taken in critical condition to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, where his death was later declared.
In a statement, the IDF said that during the attack, the assailant snatched the security guard’s handgun and fled the scene.
הנרצח בפיגוע בשומרון: גדעון פרי, תושב קדומים, בן 38.
עבד כמנהל הייצור וכמאבטח במפעל באזור התעשייה שבו נרצח היום. המחבל עבד באותו מפעל.
גדעון היה נשוי לאלה, ואב ל3 ילדים: בני 15, 11 ו8 pic.twitter.com/rZ6cKnL2rl— Carmel Dangor כרמל דנגור (@carmeldangor) August 18, 2024
“Many IDF troops have begun a pursuit of the terrorist,” the IDF added.
A military source said that the terrorist was not holed up in the industrial park, and had fled initially in a car and then on foot.
Following the incident, residents of the nearby Kedumim were briefly instructed by local security to remain indoors if possible, while the hunt for the perpetrator was ongoing.
The attacker had a work permit to enter Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank, and worked in a factory in the industrial park, according to defense sources.
Peri, from Kedumim, was a married father of three, his hometown said in a statement.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 630 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 27 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank — including in Sunday’s attack. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
