The Shin Bet on Thursday afternoon named two of the three terrorists who carried out a Thursday morning shooting attack on the tunnel highway near Jerusalem.
According to the Shin Bet, the terrorists are Abad al-Qader Qawasama, a 26-year-old Hamas operative from Hebron. His father, Abdullah Qawasama, served as the head of Hamas' military arm in Hebron, and was eliminated in 2003.
Hassan Mamoun Qapisha, age 28 from Hebron, is also affiliated with Hamas. His uncle, Iman Qapisha, was removed to Turkey in 2011.
The third terrorist, who initial reports said is 17 years old, has not been positively identified yet.
Initial police investigations of the shooting attack show that shortly after 9:00a.m., a vehicle bearing Israeli license plates (forged or copied) arrived at the tunnel checkpoint from the direction of Judea and Samaria.
Those traveling in the vehicle aroused the suspicion of security forces at the scene, and the forces stopped the vehicle for inspection at a checkpoint near the inspection booth. At this point, three terrorists opened fire towards the Israeli forces, at short range. Within seconds, the police officers, Border Police, IDF soldiers, and civilian security guards at the scene aimed for contact and neutralized the three terrorists with live fire, eliminating them.
As a result of the shooting, six security personnel were injured, one of them severely to critically, and the rest lightly to moderately. The injured were evacuated to Jerusalem hospitals by medical personnel. Two civilians suffered shock and were treated at the scene.
Initial investigations show that the group was a cell of Palestinian Arab terrorists who apparently intended to carry out a much larger and more significant terror attack, likely within Jerusalem itself.
A search of the terrorists' vehicle revealed two M16 rifles, hundreds of bullets, two pistols, various ammunition, many magazines filled with ammunition, two axes, and clothing similar to IDF uniforms.