Israel arrests Palestinian snipers after months-long search

Two Palestinian brothers were arrested after months in which they shot and wounded Israelis from rooftops in Hebron, Israeli security forces said Monday.

The two brothers were identified as Nazar Fizel Mohamed Badie, 23, and Akram Fizel Mohamed Badie, 33, both from Hebron.

The younger brother is an operative of the Hamas Islamist group, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Monday.

They were arrested during a special operation by the Shin Bet Security Agency, the Israeli military and the police. The exact time of their arrest was not divulged.

The two had allegedly used a sniper rifle in order to carry out attacks, which they have surrendered and handed over to Israeli security forces and confessed to carrying out the attacks during their interrogation, the IDF said.

The two mentioned several incidents in which they went up to their father's building and fired at Israelis, wounding about four Israelis at various degrees in the past several months.

The brothers injured two Israelis, one seriously and another lightly, on a shooting attack on November 6. They seriously injured an Israeli woman on January 3 and lightly wounded a soldier on January 4.

According to the Shin Bet Security Agency, the brothers decided to carry out the attacks in revenge of Israeli soldiers shooting and killing an elderly woman in Hebron, thinking she was attempting to carry out a car-ramming attack against them.

Twenty-eight Israelis have been killed in stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks in the ongoing wave of violence which started in October.

More than 170 Palestinians died, some in clashes with Israeli security forces during protests, while others were gunned down after trying to carry out attacks against Israelis. Endit