Palestinian terrorists murdered Meir Tamari, a 32-year-old Hermesh resident, in a shooting attack carried out near the northern West Bank settlement on Tuesday.
Tamari was initially seriously wounded in the attack, Magen David Adom said as its paramedics treated him for gunshot wounds to his chest and shoulders, at the scene along with IDF medical personnel.
He was rushed to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera in serious condition before the medical center reported that he had died. He was married and a father of two young children.
The mother of Tamari's wife, Tali, is the second wife of Binyamin Horgen, who lost his first wife, Esther Horgen, in a terrorist attack in the Reihan Forest, north of Hermesh, in 2020.
The Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades group reportedly took credit for the attack and there were suspicions that the terrorists were hiding in the Jenin area.
Further, the terror group sent out messages to Palestinians in the area to erase any security video camera footage to prevent Israeli security forces from tracking the culprits movements.
For their part, security forces were almost immediately on a manhunt to catch the terrorist perpetrators as the IDF erected additional checkpoints to limit their ability to maneuver.
There was some controversy from local Israeli leaders who claimed that the incident would have been avoided if a nearby checkpoint had not been abandoned. In contrast, the IDF said that the checkpoint would have made no difference because the shooting took place using a drive-by firing tactic. Even after the incident, the IDF said that while it has increased its presence in the general area and that its nearby forces can man the checkpoint in question quickly if needed, it has no plans to add forces to man the specific checkpoint round-the-clock that local Israeli leaders want to be reinforced.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said early Tuesday afternoon that he had received a security update on the situation and that he would hold an additional wider meeting with top defense officials in the coming hours.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the Tamari family on Tuesday afternoon, saying "Our forces are currently in pursuit of the terrorists in order to settle accounts with them, and they will be settled forthwith. Just as we have found every terrorist and closed accounts with them, we will do so this time as well."
EU Ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev posted on Twitter, “I'm shocked and saddened by yet another shooting attack in the West Bank, which killed an Israeli father of two. Sending deepest condolences to his family. I condemn this cowardly and brutal act of violence! We stand together against terrorism, which needs to be rejected by all.”
IDF-Palestinian clashes in Israel's West Bank
There have been several either attempted terror attacks or altercations between the IDF and Palestinians in the West Bank in recent days.
In the broader outlook, there has been a series of waves of Palestinian terror from the West Bank against Israel since March 2022 with the IDF engaging in almost nightly raids against Palestinian terror suspects since mid-Spring 2022.
Although there have been multiple dips in terror activity, especially in late 2022, the IDF has not managed to stabilize the situation in the West Bank to date.