Troops combing the area next to the Brosh Habika vacation village Friday.Five Palestinians were arrested Friday in connection with a suspected terror attack in the northern Jordan Valley in which a retired IDF colonel was bludgeoned to death overnight.
The arrests came after several hours of searches and roadblocks by security forces in the area, following the early-morning killing. IDF Chief Benny Gantz called the attack “serious” and President Shimon Peres said “no one will rest” until the perpetrators were caught.
Officials are still not sure whether the attack was nationalistically motivated or criminal in nature. However, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, “We strongly believe this was a terror attack.”
Seraiah Ofer, 61, was killed by men wielding metal bars and axes outside his home in the Brosh Habika vacation village, which he owned and operated, at about 1 a.m. Friday. His wife, Monique Mor, 51, managed to escape but was lightly injured on barbed wire before reaching the highway, where she flagged down a car for help.
The attack, coming on the heels of a number of isolated incidents over the past month, drew harsh responses from politicians. Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel, from the nationalist Jewish Home party, said in a statement Friday morning he would work to “enlarge and strengthen” settlement in the area.
“This is the proper Zionist response to a revolting murder,” Ariel said.
Source: timesofisrael
Palestinian suspects admit to West Bank murder of IDF reserve colonel
Men arrested for murder of former IDF colonel
