The Shin Bet stated on Sunday that it has arrested the terrorist involved in the exchange of fire in the Gaza Strip that killed Maj. Eliraz Peretz and St.-Sgt. Ilan Sviatkovsky ten years ago.

The terrorist, who has been identified as Abdullah Dama, 38, a resident of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, was arrested on July 7.

“During his interrogation by the Shin Bet in cooperation with the Israel Police, it emerged that Abdullah was involved in a murderous attack that took place on March 26, 2010, on the border fence in the Gaza Strip, near the settlements of Nirim and Ein Hashlosha,” the Shin Bet stated.

Peretz and Sviatkovsky were part of the Golani’s 12th Battalion. The day they were killed, the unit had rushed to the Gaza fence after terrorists were spotted planting explosive devices alongside it. The terrorists fired at the soldiers and in the exchange of fire, a grenade in one soldier’s vest was hit by a bullet and exploded, killing the two soldiers and wounding two others. Four terrorists were also killed.

The Shin Bet said that Dama confessed that the attack on the soldiers was planned by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades beginning in 2008, two and a half years before it actually took place.

Dama has been a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades since 2002 and eventually became a commanding officer, serving in that role until his arrest.

An indictment was filed against Dama in the Be’er Sheva District Court on Sunday for the criminal offenses of murdering IDF soldiers, membership in a terrorist organization and managing a terrorist organization.

Eliraz Peretz is the son of Miriam Peretz, who also lost her oldest son, Lieutenant Uriel Peretz, in an ambush in south Lebanon, when he was 22. Shortly after Uriel’s death, Miriam’s husband, Eliezer Peretz, passed away at the age of 56. Years later, Eliraz was already married with four children and was serving as an officer when he was killed in 2010 at the age of 32.

Miriam, an educator by profession who served as a principal of an elementary school for many years, has become a symbol of Israeli fortitude and resilience in dealing with her personal tragedies and is a sought after inspirational speaker and public figure. In 2018, she was the recipient of the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement and Special Contribution to Society.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)