Another serious incident against the police in the north of the country: A policewoman was evacuated for medical treatment last night (Saturday) after she was lightly injured by a shrapnel following a shooting at police vehicles parked in the council compound of the northern village of Tuba Zangaria. Police returned fire on the shooters but they managed to escape and a manhunt was launched in an attempt to track them down.
According to the police, this is another incident in the chain of events of the destruction of police mobility in the north in response to police activity in the north against the “protection” phenomenon. “The shooting was apparently carried out against the background of the extensive and intensive activity that the police are carrying out in the village in the fight against the phenomenon of extortion of sponsorship fees in northern localities.
It will be recalled that in the last two weeks, Northern District police officers suffered four similar incidents, the last of which was on Wednesday morning in the Tel Hai neighborhood of Kiryat Shmona – where a vehicle attached to a Border Police officer was set on fire and burned down near his home. In Safed and the last incident of the night is also related to the evaluation of police officers for the operational activity against perpetrators of crime in Tova Zangaria.
A police car was set on fire in Kiryat Shmona (Photo: Private)This is a very serious incident as criminals open fire on police and police vehicles, in response to an alleged wave of arrests made by Northern District Central Unit detectives against criminals who have been involved in a long line of collection and extortion sponsorships in northern localities for a long time. Police activity that resulted in a severe blow among the same criminal elements with seizure of large property and cash accumulated through the serious offenses.
It should be noted that this is the fourth incident since last Thursday in which a police car in the northern region was damaged due to the police activity in the area. This time, the operations reached the area of residence of a border policeman who carried out an activity in the village of Tuba as part of the police enforcement against the collection of sponsorship fees.
The latest incident is another tier of a wave of incidents directed against the police in the north in the past two weeks, after a Border Police vehicle, adjacent to one of the police officers living in the Tel Hai neighborhood in Kiryat Shmona, was set on fire last Tuesday night and a grenade was thrown at it. The anxiety among local residents.Great forces from the police arrived at the scene and it is estimated that the background is actually the enforcement activity against the collection of sponsorship fees by criminal elements in the area.
The police stated that early in the morning, a notification was received at the Israel Police’s Hotline 100 about hearing an explosion and a vehicle on fire in the Tel Hai neighborhood in Kiryat Shmona. Israeli police officers rushed to the scene, collected findings and opened an investigation which revealed that a police vehicle had been set on fire and in addition a grenade had been thrown that caused damage to a vehicle parked nearby. It is further emphasized that according to the suspicion, this incident, as well as other injuries to police vehicles in recent weeks, was carried out, as stated, against the background of the Israeli police’s struggle to extort sponsorship fees in northern localities.
Northern District Commander Superintendent Shimon Lavi said: “We are prepared for a powerful, ongoing and stubborn fight against criminal organizations in the north that undermine the sense of security of the citizens.
Amir Ohana, the Minister of Internal Security, said following the same incident: “Based on the policy I set when I entered, the Israel Police will prioritize the fight against crime in Arab society and in the IDF. In recent weeks the Northern District has been in a wave of nuts, arrests, seizures of weapons and cash in huge sums. Familiar with the Northern District Command and the designated commissioner. The criminals will continue to kidnap, and even more so. Please, please. “
As stated, this is not the first case of damage to police mobility in the north. On the night between Thursday and Friday, about eight days ago, there were two cases of Border Police mobile arson in Safed, as well as another incident of a police car being set on fire last Sunday.
A police source clarified that “the police will not be deterred and will intensify their activities against the perpetrators of crime in the northern region.” He said, “It will act harshly against anyone who harms the rule of law and the police and anyone who harms the quality of life and well – being of the residents and casts fear and terror on the citizens. This injury, as well as three other cases of harm to police property, We intend to forgive him. “