Shin Bet, IDF nab suspects in highway shooting, find gun
2 Palestinians from nearby village arrested shortly after attack in which they opened fire at a car, west of Ramallah
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Israeli security forces arrested two Palestinian men on Friday night in the central West Bank suspected of having carried out a shooting attack on a car in the area earlier that day, officials said.
The weapon used in the attack — a makeshift Carlo-style submachine gun — was also found in their possession, the Shin Bet security service said.
On Friday afternoon, one of the two men opened fire at an Israeli vehicle as it drove by the West Bank settlement of Nilli, west of Ramallah, the army said.
No injuries were reported in the attack, but multiple bullet holes were found on the car.
Israeli soldiers searched the area for the assailants, who fled the scene. Troops said they found several bullet casings at the location of the shooting.
The search led security forces to Deir Abu Mashal, just north of Nilli, where the two suspects were arrested late Friday night, the army said.
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The Shin Bet took the two suspects into custody for interrogation, the security service said.
The Nilli shooting attack was the third such incident in 36 hours. Wednesday evening saw two shooting attacks — one near Ramallah and the other north of Qalqilya. There were no injuries in either attack.
Also on Wednesday troops shot dead a Palestinian man who rammed his car into a West Bank bus stop north of Jerusalem on Wednesday evening. Israeli civilians and soldiers who were standing at the bus stop were uninjured.
The army said the driver was found to be holding a knife in his hand.
— Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
