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Photos:
The scene of the shooting attack, on Thursday. Credit: Magen David Adom Spokesperson

Yitzhak Zeiger. Published by Haaretz
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The owner of a nearby restaurant shot and killed the terrorist, a former Palestinian police officer who had previously been jailed in Israel

by Hagar Shezaf, Josh Breiner and Ido Efrati for Haaretz
Feb 29, 2024 9:13 pm IST

Two Israelis were killed in a shooting attack at a gas station at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Eli on Thursday. The owner of a nearby restaurant shot the terrorist and was then joined by the security forces and other civilians who arrived at the scene.

The two victims were identified as 57-year-old Yitzhak Zeiger and 16-year-old Uria Hartum. According to Magen David Adom emergency services, the two were in a car when they were shot and were found at the scene in critical condition. They were pronounced dead a short time later.

The terrorist involved in the attack was identified as Mahmoud Manassera, 31 years old, from the Qalandiya refugee camp. Manassera is linked to Fatah, and according to a security source, he was an officer in the Palestinian police. Between 2018 and 2019, he served a prison sentence in Ofer prison in Israel for trafficking weapons.

Aviad Gazbar, who shot the terrorist, said, "I realized right away that it was an attack. I went out, I saw that he saw me – he started charging towards me. I took my place and shot him."

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said following the attack, he will demand change in the West Bank at Thursday's cabinet meeting. According to him, this "requires the IDF to close roads, return the checkpoints and massively develop settlement as an appropriate Zionist answer."

Israel Gantz, the head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council which governs the settlement of Eli, arrived at the scene of the attack and said "the terrorism here and in Gaza is the same terrorism, with the same terrorists and the same ambitions. It is necessary to mount a crushing attack on the West Bank, enter the city centers, destroy infrastructure and get rid of terrorists just like in Gaza."

In June of last year, four Israelis were killed in a shooting attack at the same spot. Four others were wounded in the attack.