Senior police and ISA officials are certain the terrorists who perpetrated the Shar Shechem terror attack on Wednesday, 24 Shevat were planning a much larger attack and B’chasdei Hashem, it did not end worse than it dead. One border policewoman was killed in the attack, 19-year-old Hadar Cohen HY”D, who was only in the service for two months. A second border policewoman was wounded.

Officials explain the fact the three terrorists were armed with automatic weapons, explosives and knives point to a different scenario. Had the border police unit not decided to stop the terrorists and instruct them to identify themselves, they would likely have continued until they would find a group of civilians to target in what may have been a major attack with a far worse outcome.

Deputy Jerusalem Police Chief Avshalom Feld told Channel 1 News the attack was likely not intended against police but others. He added that had the terrorist’s weapon not jammed after firing two shots, many others would have likely been killed or wounded.

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich praised the response of border police, whom he stated “preformed exactly how they should have”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening convened an emergency meeting with his most senior security and intelligence commanders seeking to determine if the attack demonstrates a new stage in the ongoing Palestinian wave of terror or an isolated incident that included three terrorists.

PM Netanyahu has instructed legal and military officials to probe the possibility of canceling work permits for family members of terrorists as another step towards restoring deterrence against future attacks.

Photos: Zaka volunteers operating at the scene of the Shar Shechem attack.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photos: Zaka)