It is now permitted to publish that the Israeli police and the General Security Service have uncovered the stabbing attack that occurred about three weeks ago in Gilo in which a 30-year-old man was severely injured. Yesterday, a pre-indictment statement was filed against the three terrorists who carried out the attack, in anticipation of an indictment that is expected in the coming days.
As remembered, the stabbing attack occurred on July 20 in the evening hours in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem, when a seriously injured resident of the area was evacuated from the scene for medical treatment. The assailants fled the scene towards Bethlehem, and police forces conducted searches for them. Concurrently, the police and the General Security Service began collecting evidence and initiated an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the case. Following initial investigative actions, suspicions strengthened that this was a terrorist attack.
Two days after the attack, it was reported that three Palestinians, residents of Bethlehem aged 17-19, were arrested on suspicion of carrying out the stabbing attack. The investigation by the General Security Service indicates that the suspects arrived together on foot in the Gilo neighborhood on the day of the attack from the direction of Beit Jala, carrying three large kitchen knives that they had acquired on the same day. Their intention was to murder a Jewish person and become "shahids" (martyrs).
According to the suspicion, on the day of the attack, the three individuals met, acquired knives, and traveled on a dirt road towards Gilo neighborhood. At a certain point, they exited the vehicle and proceeded on foot into the neighborhood. After arriving in Gilo with the knives concealed on their bodies, the assailants sought a Jewish victim and encountered a young resident on the street. Upon approaching him and upon confirmation of him being Jewish, they brutally stabbed him multiple times.
After the attack, one knife remained in the victim's body, another knife was found at the scene, and the third was in the possession of one of the suspects who fled the scene to the Bethlehem area after the attack. A day and a half after the incident, the suspects were apprehended by security forces in the Bethlehem area, as mentioned.
Jerusalem District Commander, Superintendent Doron Turgeman, immediately after the arrest of the suspects, stated: "Since the attack, we have spared no efforts and resources to understand the circumstances of the case, to trace the identity of the suspects, and to locate and apprehend them. This morning, the pursuit of the terrorists concluded as we closed the circle. I want to express my gratitude to all the forces that participated in the pursuit of the terrorists and operated in cooperation together, to the police, the IDF, and the General Security Service. I am confident that the investigators of the Jerusalem District Police and the General Security Service will now carry out all the necessary investigative actions to bring the terrorists to justice. I want to strengthen the family of Or, who was seriously injured in the attack, and wish him a speedy recovery."
The detention of the terrorists has been extended by the court over time, and upon the completion of the investigation by the Jerusalem District Police and the General Security Service, a body of evidentiary material has been assembled against them for carrying out the attack. As mentioned, yesterday a demand statement was submitted against them in anticipation of an indictment, which is expected to be filed in the coming days by the prosecution. Additionally, their detention has been extended again by the court for another four days, until August 11th.