Palestinian gunman who fired on Israeli town last month arrested

Police say Amar Nasrallah was shot and injured as he fled security forces in Tulkarem; during interrogation incriminated others who recently fired at Bat Hefer

By Emanuel Fabian 26 June 2024, 12:14 pm Edit

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Footage posted on social media shows three Hamas terrorists shooting at the Israeli town of Bat Hefer from the Tulkarem area in the West Bank, May 29, 2024. (Social media/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

A Palestinian gunman behind shooting attacks from the West Bank against the Israeli town of Bat Hefer in May was detained earlier this month, the Israel Police announced Wednesday.

A joint IDF, Shin Bet and police statement said Amar Nasrallah was arrested on June 5 in the Tulkarem refugee camp.

Last month, Palestinian terror group Hamas said its operatives from the Tulkarem area in the West Bank had fired shots at Bat Hefer.

Hamas posted videos on social media of its gunmen opening fire.

During his interrogation, “Amar admitted that he was a member of a terror cell that carried out shooting attacks on towns near the [border] fence, and in addition, incriminated other suspects belonging to the cell,” the statement said.

Footage published by police showed officers shooting Nasrallah as he allegedly attempted to flee. He was wounded and captured.

Hebrew media reports at the end of May said that three times in the space of the previous two weeks shots had been fired at Bat Hefer, a town of about 5,000 people that sits just west of the so-called Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank.

There have also been similar shooting incidents at Kibbutz Meirav, a religious community of less than a thousand, from the West Bank city of Jenin.

The attacks came as Israel battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip in a war that started when the terror group led a massive cross-border raid that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

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