The extensive hunt for the terrorist continues Uday Tamimi, who shot to death the late Noa Lazar, a foreigner, and seriously wounded a security guard at the Shoafat checkpoint in northern Jerusalem. Large forces of the Jerusalem District and the Special Police, combined with special police units, Shin Bet personnel and the police aerial formation helicopter, are participating in the search. Special efforts are also being made in the intelligence field. Meanwhile, Lazar was laid to rest tonight in the cemetery in Kfar Yona. At the request of the family, the funeral was closed to media coverage.
The commander of the Jerusalem district is acting Doron Turgeman He heads an integrated police force that manages the hunt for the terrorist. The activity is carried out using a variety of sophisticated technological means and special forces. According to estimates, the terrorist, who does not have a security record, is hiding in Shuafat or the nearby town of Anata, and will try to cross into the PA’s territory.
The security forces arrested and interrogated the terrorist’s brother, father and mother. The driver who drove him to the checkpoint where he shot the security guards was also arrested. The security establishment believes that the driver, who turned himself in to the police after fleeing the crossing during the attack, did not know about the terrorist’s intention to carry out an attack and that he was not involved in it. Several other suspects were arrested on suspicion of assisting the terrorist.
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extended until Sunday the detention of four suspects of involvement in the attack, including the terrorist’s brother. At the same time as the ongoing manhunt, a comprehensive investigation of the attack was conducted, from which it appears that the incident occurred during the shift change between the security guards, whose daily work is very difficult and Sisyphean. At the time of the attack, most of the fighters of the crossing were crowded together and it appears that there were no fighters at the outer positions of the crossing, which control the observation of the crossing itself.
Majev force in operational activity in Shuafat (photo: Jamal Awad, Flash 90)Security officials criticized the fact that the fighters in the crossing did not pursue the terrorist who fled on foot, nor did they rush to fire at him, and they estimate that disciplinary measures will be taken against fighters and commanders in the crossing. In addition, the MGB soldiers began shooting in the direction the terrorist fled only after he had already disappeared from the scene. Therefore, the issue expected to be at the heart of the operational investigation is the functioning of the transition in the minutes preceding and following the attack. Here, several big question marks arise regarding the level of competence, training and supervision, and will also be examined The matter of striving to touch the fighters in the passage after the attack.
According to the investigations, the terrorist managed to shoot eight bullets at the fighters from point blank range with the gun he had in his hand without interference, before fleeing on foot after being stopped at gunpoint. However, sources in the security system emphasized that the investigation must deal with much deeper and broader issues than just the functioning of the fighters stationed at the crossing during the event, and that it is necessary to examine in depth the realization of the responsibility for the transition of the MGB headquarters in the Jerusalem area through, among other things, conducting exercises, surprise inspections and operational enforcement This is especially so when it comes to a very tense period in Yosh and Shuafat, which, according to estimates, has thousands of illegal weapons.
The scene of the attack at the Shoafat checkpoint in Jerusalem (Photo: Police spokeswoman)Soldiers from different backgrounds serve at the Shuafat crossing, which together constitute a non-homogeneous force, consisting of soldiers from the IDF’s crossing battalion, civilian security guards, and the command of the MGB, whose fighters are also at the crossing. The diverse composition of forces requires even more training, supervision and control of the transition. the chief of staff Aviv Kochavi On the eve of the Sukkot holiday, he visited the area of the attack, spoke with commanders in the sector and with fighters in the Erez Battalion, the crossing battalion of the military police in which the late Sergeant Noa Lazar served, and said that due to the activities of the battalion, attacks are avoided every day. However, he added: “We will have to study the incident and learn from it the lessons to prevent such incidents. This is our responsibility and we will do it in the most thorough way.”