On Sunday evening, police lifted a gag-order regarding the arrest of two suspected terrorists for the murder of Reuven Shmerling from Elkana. The two suspects are Palestinian residents of the town of Qabatiya in Northern Samaria.

The arrests were made by a joint task force involving the Ministry of Defence, the General Security Forces, the Police Swat team and regular officers as well as the IDF.

According to results from the ongoing investigation thus far by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), the incident appears to be a terror attack carried out for nationalistic purposes. Regarding the identity of the two suspects, a gag order is still in force.

The terror attack occurred at the location of Reuven Shmerling’s business. After he did not answer the phone consistently, his son went over to check on him and found his dead body. At the beginning it was surmised that this may have been a murder relating to Shmerling’s business, however, the family disavowed such a scenario. Evidence from the scene also suggested that this was a terror attack with nationalistic motives.

Israeli police and the ISA issued a comprehensive gag order which allowed for an expedited investigation and the apprehension of the two suspects.