Ariel Oseran
i24NEWS Middle East correspondent | @ariel_oseran
Muhannad Shehadeh is being reported as the alleged Palestinian terrorist that killed four civilians and wounded four others, in the West Bank
Palestinian social media accounts affiliated with terror groups identified the attacker as 25-year-old Muhannad Shehadeh, from the town of Orif near Nablus. Shehadeh is reportedly from the ranks of Hamas and a released security prisoner.
He carried out a terror attack in the West Bank, initially at a restaurant, where they opened fire with a semi-automatic M16 rifle. From there they fled and attacked a gas station. In total, four Israeli civilians were killed, and four were wounded, one critical, two moderate and another light.
Facebook appears to have suspended the account of Mohanad Shahada who carried out today's deadly shooting attack near Eli. "The path doesn't belong to those who came first, but to those who are just," he wrote on the social media platform.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that a terrorist was neutralized by a civilian. Israeli security forces conducted a manhunt for additional suspects that fled the scene.
Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the terrorist organization Hamas, said the attack was a “response to the crimes of the occupation in the Jenin camp yesterday and the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“We congratulate the special operation on the road between Ramallah and Nablus, and we consider it a natural response to the escalating occupation crimes against the Palestinian people. Threats don’t frighten the Palestinian people," stated Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) spokesman Tariq Selmi.
Initially reports indicated that one of the terrorists belonged to Fatah, the ruling party in Ramallah, of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Although Shehadeh, who was neutralized, was reportedly a member of Hamas, the de-facto rulers in Gaza. PIJ were responsible for the latest IDF Shield and Arrow operation.