Historica Wiki
Advertisement

The Nablus cafe shootout occurred in 2018 when a team of Israeli Mista'arvim counter-terrorism operatives came under attack from Palestinian Hamas terrorists during a covert operation in Nablus.

By 2018, the ISIL-trained Hamas explosives expert Nidal al-Makdasi had become Shin Bet's number-one target, and Makdasi incurred the wrath of Israeli olive farmer and shepherd Doron Kabilio for ordering an attempted ambush of Doron and his father Amos Kabilio as they bought feed from Sheikh Abu Ala'a. Kabilio returned to his old unit after volunteering to help Shin Bet captain Gabi Ayub in luring out Makdasi; Shin Bet captured Makdasi's operative Izat Abu Kwaider and forced him to call Makdasi and arrange for Doron to be "ambushed" at a meeting with him near the Great Mosque of Nablus before Friday prayers. An elite Mista'arvim team went in undercover as Kabilio met with Abu Kwaider at a cafe in Nablus' casbah.

The Mizta'arvim team thwarted an attempt by a motorcycle-borne gunman to commit a drive-by shooting, killing the rider, but they were disappointed to find that he was not Makdasi. Shortly after, a Hamas militant wielding an RPG fired a rocket from a nearby window, blasting the cafe and killing several civilians. The Israelis returned fire against the building, believing that Makdasi was inside. Makdasi fled on a motorcycle, while Mista'arvim commander Mickey Moreno himself gave chase in a Humvee. Makdasi led him down a road where he triggered an IED, killing Moreno and Major Yossi Yohanan before escaping.

Advertisement