Three Israeli police officers were killed on 2024-09-01 when gunmen opened fire on a vehicle near Tarqumiyah in the West Bank, according to Israeli military and police reporting cited by The Jerusalem Post. The attack took place on Route 35, close to Hebron, and prompted a search for the shooter after security forces later surrounded and killed the alleged attacker at his home in Hebron.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israel Defense Forces said terrorists fired on the vehicle in the Tarqumiyah area, while emergency workers initially described the scene as a fatal shooting involving three passengers. Police later identified the dead as Ch.-Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, Senior-NCO Hadas Branch and Adv.-St.-Sgt.-Maj. Roni Shakuri. The report said Ben Eliyahu was 37, Branch was 53 and Shakuri was 61.
The attack added to a sharp rise in violence in the occupied West Bank and quickly became a political flashpoint. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich used the scene to call for tougher action against Palestinian militants, saying Israel needed to “strike terrorism hard” and carry out a “preemptive strike.” The same report said the military and Shin Bet later killed the suspected attacker after surrounding his home in Hebron.
The immediate first responder accounts described a badly damaged vehicle and passengers with gunshot wounds who were found unconscious. Those early medical updates were later revised when police confirmed the dead were officers. That shift underlined how quickly details can change in the aftermath of a fast-moving attack and why the final identifications matter.
The incident also carried a strong personal dimension. Shakuri, from Sderot, was identified as the father of Mor Shakuri, who was killed on October 7 while defending the Sderot police station. The report said the three officers left behind spouses, children and extended family members.
The shooting came as Israeli forces continued operations in the area and searched for any possible wider network behind the attack. The report did not provide a motive beyond the military’s description of the shooting as a terror attack. The available evidence points to a short, lethal ambush on a highway used for routine travel between towns in the southern West Bank, followed by a security sweep and the killing of the suspect.
For now, the confirmed facts are stark: three police officers were killed, the shooting occurred near Tarqumiyah on Route 35, and Israeli forces said they responded by locating and killing the suspected gunman.
