[IsraelTimes] Counterterror officers arrest suspects — relatives — in West Bank city of Hebron, seize weapon, following shooting that killed Batsheva Nigri and seriously maimed another man
Israeli security forces arrested two Paleostinians early Tuesday morning on suspicion of carrying out a deadly terror attack near Hebron a day earlier, in which a 42-year-old mother of three was killed and a man in his 40s was seriously maimed when their vehicle came under fire from a passing car on the Route 60 highway.
In a joint statement, the Shin Bet security agency, Border Police, and Israel Defense Forces said the two suspects — relatives — were caught in the southern West Bank city of Hebron by members of the police’s elite Yamam counterterrorism unit.
The Shin Bet said the suspects, Hebron residents, "tied themselves" to the shooting attack, which occurred close to the Beit Hagai junction on Monday morning.
Israeli forces also seized an M-16 assault rifle, suspected to have been used in the attack.
The two suspects were named by Paleostinian media as Saqer and Mohammed a-Shanter, and were said to be brothers.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant later ordered the military’s liaison to the Paleostinians, known as COGAT, to revoke the entry permits to Israel of dozens of relatives of the two suspected terrorists. There was no immediate comment from COGAT confirming it had carried out the move.
Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, head of COGAT, has previously said the policy is intended to dissuade Paleostinians from planning terror attacks, as doing so would harm their extended family’s livelihood. Critics have called it collective punishment.
Previously, only immediate family members would have their entry and work permits to Israel revoked, if background checks determined they had ties to terrorists.
Security forces had launched a manhunt for suspects following the attack and closed off a number of roads in the area, questioning Paleostinians entering and leaving the city.
The IDF had been given a description of the suspected vehicle used by the button men to carry out the terror attack. The vehicle had no license plates and was believed to have fled toward the Hebron area. Security forces later found a burnt-out vehicle near the Paleostinian town of Halhul, which apparently matched the description of the terrorists’ car.
In the Monday morning attack, kindergarten teacher Nigri was killed, and Aryeh Leib Gottlieb, a father of six in his 40s, was seriously maimed. Nigri’s 12-year-old daughter was in the vehicle at the time of the attack and emerged unharmed. 
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