After the killing of Israeli settlers in a shooting attack near the Eli settlement south of Nablus in the West Bank, the Israeli army revealed the identity of the Palestinian shooter, who is from the Qalandia refugee camp, and whose aim was to kill a known rabbi. So, who is the perpetrator of the Eli operation?
According to Palestinian media, the operation was carried out by Captain Muhammad Youssef Diyab Manasra, a member of the Palestinian police's general investigations, from Qalandia camp north of Jerusalem. The perpetrator appeared in a video before being shot down by the Israeli army in the same location where a similar operation was carried out by two young Palestinians weeks earlier. The Israeli army later identified one of the dead, who was Rabbi Yitzhak Ziger.
In a statement regarding the operation, Hamas declared: "The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) praises the heroic operation at the 'Eli' settlement south of Nablus tonight and announces to the Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic nation the martyrdom of the heroic perpetrator, Officer in the Palestinian police: Muhammad Youssef Diyab Manasra from Qalandia camp."
The statement continued: "The continuous massacres of the occupation against our resilient and steadfast people, especially in the Gaza Strip and the latest horrific massacre last night at the Al-Nabulsih junction in Gaza City, will not go unanswered by our people and their resistors. Our brave heroes from our people in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and inside will always be ready to confront and seek vengeance for the spilled blood, and our people will continue their resistance until achieving the return and liberation. We also affirm that the continued aggressive actions of the occupation in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and its plans to restrict worshippers and prevent their entry to Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan, will serve as another explosive spark that ignites the ground beneath the occupiers' feet.
This heroic operation comes in the same place where the two martyrs, Qassam members Muhannad Shahada and Khaled Sobhi, carried out their operation a few months ago, signaling to the occupation that there is no safety for them on our land, and that the blows from the resistors will continue and pursue them from where they least expect, and they will not know from where the next resistor will emerge, God willing."
