A retired 61 year old Israeli colonel was bludgeoned to death today, with reports conveying eyewitness testimony from the man’s wife describing a well-planned terror attack. Accounts indicate that two Palestinians wielding iron bars and axes killed Seraya Ofer, which if confirmed would make the murder the latest in a string of deadly terror attacks which have taken place in recent weeks. Two other Israelis have been killed by Palestinians, and a nine year old girl was shot this week by attackers who approached her family’s home. The spike in violence has deepened fears that Palestinians from rival camps – both the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas – are deliberately fomenting violence in the West Bank.

Multiple arrests linked to the latest murder have already been made:

The military stopped short of calling the assault a “terror attack,” saying that an investigation was still underway. It said troops set up roadblocks, searched the area and five Palestinian suspects were later arrested… In the hospital Monique said her husband “was a military man for a long time; an amazing man, amazing father, amazing grandfather and amazing husband. There is no one who did not love him or connect with him. How they managed to do this to him, I do not know. They surprised him. I don’t know.”

Top-ranking PA officials, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have among other things paid tribute to convicted terrorists, praised them on social media, and called on terrorists to launch attacks on Israelis.

For its part Hamas has been rebuilding its terror infrastructure in the West Bank – taking orders from officials operating freely in Turkey – and have been linked to several major terror attempts. In a statement on Wednesday, senior Hamas leader Husam Badran called for increased violence against Israelis.

[Photo: JewishNewsOne / YouTube]