Last week, Israeli security forces, led by Lt. Col. "L" caught Bat Yam bus terrorist Abd al-Karim Tznuber after a 19-hour chase through Nablus.
However, when The Jerusalem Post interviewed "L" on Wednesday, it became the first outlet to tell his and his Battalion 5025's story about how they caught Tznuber in the Samaria city.
In March, the state prosecution filed an indictment against "R.", a 47-year-old resident of Holon, for allegedly transporting Tznuber in relation to the Palestinian terrorist's planting explosive devices on buses in Holon and Bat Yam in February.
A mistake prevented mass casualties
In an unusual stroke of luck, the timers for the bus bombs were mishandled and exploded at night when no one was present on the buses, but the incident was considered one of the most dangerous in recent years within the Israeli Green Line.
Tznuber then avoided arrest for around the last five months – until last week.
L recounted what led up to catching Tznuber.
"Last Thursday we came to the area for training. It's part of always getting used to a new front and the 'field' you are operating in. We finished our drill and patrol on Thursday afternoon," he said.
Next, L stated, "Already on Tuesday evening, there was an explosion in a residential apartment in Shechem [Nablus]. The intelligence collected added up to the idea that this was a terrorist," though they did not immediately know that it was Tznuber.
Then at 12:00 midnight "we sent IDF units into Shechem and started a hot pursuit. Through Friday morning, almost the entire battalion was in Shechem – it was the first time they went deep into the city."
"We started to chase him: from a civilian taxi cab, to a house with a camera, to the next street over where he went into a store, to going into another house – and so we followed him for hours throughout the day from camera to camera [with the Palestinians voluntarily handing over their own footage], as well as lots of interrogating Palestinians," on the fly for the next clue to keep up the pursuit, he said.
He explained that some Palestinians immediately helped, some did not, and some did not see Tznuber, but provided video surveillance footage which helped track the terrorist.
"Around 6:00 p.m. at night, after a 19-hour chase in crazy intense heat, we came to the last house in the neighborhood," meaning the farthest house from the nearby main street., said L.
Continuing,L noted, "We opened the door to the house, which we could tell was abandoned, and saw someone peeking out from behind a nearby bush about one meter away. He had bandages on his head and on his hands. We radioed in that we had nabbed him."
He said that his battalion had inspected and searched around 7-8 different buildings and stores, some of which took very long to search because they were as high as 10 stories,
"My reservist-soldiers' persistence not to leave until we got him," led to catching him, declaredLwith pride.
Moreover, he said, "I personally arrested him. At that point, he had lost the will to resist as he was completely exhausted since we had not given him a moment to rest during the chase."
Questioned about the challenges of catching a terrorist who clearly had skill at avoiding being caught easily, he responded, "One of the hardest challenges was chasing him through Shechem. It's a terrorist hiding within a civilian population. We cannot check every single house and location, but he can go anywhere. He can jump into a taxi whose driver does not know who he is and is not connected to terror. The cab driver just wants to make money."
"He can knock on a stranger's door. Some might not help him, but some will, even if they are not terrorists because they will be afraid of him" he explained.
Next, he asked rhetorically, "How do I find one person among 350,000 in Shechem? I have to use a scalpel, and not a hammer. This is a big challenge and why it took five months to find him."
Describing the circumstances which helped break the case open, he said, "We call it a 'work accident' – the improvised explosive device blew up on him. Shechem could be a refuge city for any Palestinian, and it was for him for five months. Sometimes someone could hide for even one to two years, but eventually our security forces: the IDF, the Shin Bet, the border police, and other forces always catch the terrorist."
"I have tremendous appreciation for my reservist-soldiers who have spent more than 300 days on duty. They were also just called up during the Iran War, then they were released for around 10 days, and then suddenly called up again to jump into Shechem," stated L.
He said that there were other personnel from the Shin Bet and from other special units who spoke Arabic to interact with Palestinians in Shechem in order to facilitate the search.
Questioned about Jewish extremist incidents in the area,L said he had heard from other commanders who had experienced Jewish extremist violence, but that he himself had not yet experienced the phenomenon firsthand.
Y added that there are "always attempts and capabilities for carrying out terror attacks. There are always weapons labs, IEDs, and other weapons. Every night we are deep in the "field." We were just in two different refugee camps and we have a new location we are going to soon," though he could not reveal that location so as not to tip off any terrorists in the area.