The IDF has mapped the house of the Palestinian terrorist who carried out the deadly Tapuah Junction drive-by shooting attack last Sunday.The large, two-story home in the town of Turmus Aiya, near Ramallah, was mapped ahead of its possible demolition.While some NGOs and human rights organizations criticize the army for using collective punishment by demolishing the homes of terrorists’ families, the IDF believes they are a key deterrent.The attacker, 44-year-old Muntasir Shalabi, was arrested overnight on Wednesday in the town of Silwad just hours after his victim, 19-year-old Yehuda Guetta, died at Beilinson hospital of his wounds. One other victim, Benaya Peretz, remains in hospital in very serious condition.
Though media reports had said that Shalabi was a known Hamas supporter, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said he was not affiliated with any terror group. According to a report from Walla News, Shalabi was radicalized in the United States, where he lived for several years and began to support Hamas. Nevertheless it is believed he acted alone and without the support of the Gazan terror group.Shalabi, a father of seven, is reported to be a successful businessman.In the four days since the attack took place, security forces had been focusing their manhunt in the Nablus area and had closed off the village of Akraba where the car used in the attack had been located. Dozens of Palestinians, many of them family members, were detained on suspicion that they had provided shelter or support for Shalabi while he was on the run.During the mapping of his home, violent clashes broke out between IDF soldiers and Palestinian youths, with troops using riot dispersal means including firing rubber bullets against the demonstrators, according to Palestinian reports. One of the largest mosques in the village was surrounded, the report added.Videos uploaded on social media showed a convoy of vehicles entering the village with garbage burning on the road.
قوات الاحتلال تقتحم بلدة ترمسعيا شمال رام الله وتداهم منزل منفذ عملية حاجز زعترة الأسير منتصر شلبي. pic.twitter.com/IGKEFupEO8
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 6, 2021
