Three Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorists suspected of kidnapping and killing Itamar resident Eliyahu Asheri last week, surrendered to elite IDF troops in Ramallah early Tuesday morning after a three-hour standoff.
Slain settler, 18-year-old Eliyahu Pinhas Asheri.
Photo: Channel 10
The three, who were all from the Ramallah area, were later identified as Bassam Artiyah, 34, Hamza Taktuk, 22, and Iham Kamamji, 20.
Artiyah was also suspected of attempting to direct a suicide bombing in March, while Taktuk was allegedly responsible for smuggling arms from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank.
According to Army Radio, large IDF forces had surrounded the Palestinian Authority Police building in the West Bank city.
Soldiers and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire during the operation.
The troops, who did not sustain any casualties during the operation, were making their way out of the city.
Asheri was a student at a pre-military academy at the settlement of Neveh Tzuf in the West Bank. He disappeared Sunday night as he hitchhiked to meet fellow students for a hike.
OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh said last Thursday that Asheri was murdered by his kidnappers approximately one hour after he was abducted. 'There was no attempt by the kidnappers to negotiate his release while he was alive,' Naveh said.
