2018 Barkan Industrial Park shooting

32°06′24″N 35°07′22″E / 32.10667°N 35.12278°E / 32.10667; 35.12278Date7 October 2018; 5 years ago (2018-10-07)
c. 7:30 (UTC+2)Mass shootingWeaponsCarlo improvised rifleDeaths2 civiliansInjured1 civilianParticipant1

On the morning of 7 October 2018, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on several Israeli civilians in the Barkan Industrial Park, killing two and critically injuring another.^[1] The shooting incident was declared a "terrorist attack" by the IDF.^[2][3] It was the first attack in the park and the second fatal attack in the West Bank to occur in three weeks.^[4]

The attacker, a 23-year-old Palestinian, had worked in the factory where the shooting took place.^[2][5][6]

IDF forces conducted an intensive two-month manhunt to capture the militant who fled the scene.^[2] The IDF arrested some relatives of the assailant.^[7]

Reactions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the shooting "a very severe terror attack".^[8]

Manhunt for shooter ends in his death

The two-months long search for the shooter ended on 12 December when his hiding place was discovered by Israeli security. He shot at the arresting officers who returned fire, killing him. The militant was killed on 13 December 2018 after an armed clash with a special IDF force called Yamam in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus.^[9]

The shooter, Ashraf Naalwa, 23, from the West Bank village of Shuweika near Tulkarem, was said by security officials to have been planning a new attack at the time he was found and killed.^[9]

The IDF ordered the demolition of Naalwa's home.^[9]

References