Ein 'Arik Checkpoint Attack

The attack occurred during the Second Intifada, amid sustained Palestinian terrorist violence against Israeli civilians and military personnel. The Ein 'Arik checkpoint was west of Ramallah in the West Bank. IDF soldiers were stationed at the roadblock during this period of heightened violence.[1]

On the evening of February 19, 2002, several attackers opened fire on IDF soldiers at the checkpoint near Ein 'Arik, west of Ramallah.[2] Three of the soldiers killed were off-duty at the time and were inside a structure at the roadblock; they were shot at close range.[2] One additional person was wounded in the attack.[1]

The six soldiers killed were platoon commander Lieutenant Moshe Eini, 21, of Petah Tikva; Staff Sergeant Benny Kikis, 20, of Carmiel; Staff Sergeant Mark Podolsky, 20, of Tel Aviv; Staff Sergeant Erez Turgeman, 20, of Jerusalem; Staff Sergeant Tamir Atsmi, 21, of Kiryat Ono; and Staff Sergeant Michael Oxsman, 21, of Haifa.[3][2]

Four of the six soldiers were buried on the day their names were released publicly. Lieutenant Eini's funeral was scheduled for the following day, while the date of Staff Sergeant Oxsman's funeral had not yet been set at the time of initial reporting.[3]

The Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.[2] A 2002 U.S. congressional hearing statement separately noted that the Return Brigades had taken credit for an ambush on February 19, 2002, that killed six IDF soldiers, citing an Agence France-Presse report titled "Palestinian Gunmen Kill Six in Ambush on Israeli Army Checkpoint," though that hearing testimony did not identify the checkpoint's location.[4]

Marwan Barghouti, described as head of the Tanzim in the West Bank, told Palestinian television that Muhand Abu Halaweh was behind the attack at Ein 'Arik.[5] The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs placed Barghouti's statement in the context of Abu Halaweh's killing in al-Bireh on March 5, 2002.[6] These attributions reflect claims and reported statements rather than independently verified findings.

Within hours of the attack, Israeli military forces launched a series of operations against checkpoints staffed by Palestinian police officers. Soldiers from the Yael reconnaissance unit were dispatched to one such checkpoint, and participants later described the broader set of operations that night — which also involved paratrooper reconnaissance soldiers and Shayetet 13 personnel at locations across Judea and Samaria and Gaza — as "the night of revenge."[7]

The IDF, in a response quoted in later reporting, said it had conducted offensive operations during the Second Intifada in response to attacks on Israeli civilians. It stated that Palestinian police officers had frequently participated in, or turned a blind eye to, terrorist activity, and that the checkpoint operations were intelligence-based. The IDF further stated that a court had determined the operations were carried out after establishing that Palestinian police were actively assisting terrorist activity — a conclusion reached in the wake of the Ein 'Arik attack.[7]

Contemporaneous Ynet reporting identifies the checkpoint as Ein 'Arik and states that six soldiers were killed.[3] The Jewish Virtual Library's attack table lists the location as "En Arik" and records six killed and one wounded, while its casualty account describes the site as a roadblock west of Ramallah without naming Ein 'Arik explicitly.[1][2]

An archived reference text lists the attack under the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades but does not specify the attack method or provide an explicit claim of responsibility from that group for this particular incident.[8] Attribution of responsibility — whether to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Return Brigades, or Muhand Abu Halaweh personally — rests on claims and attributed statements rather than independent corroboration across all available sources.