The ambush was initially dubbed as the "Sabbath massacre" (Hebrew: טבח השבת) by official Israeli spokespersons.

The attacks were carried out in a narrow alley, off the passage from Tomb of the Patriarchs to the south gate of Kiryat Arba, by three Palestinian fighters.

Twelve Israeli soldiers and security guards, including three high-ranking officers, were killed in the battle, as were all three of the Palestinian fighters.

Kiryat Arba residents visiting the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron for a Sabbath eve service were escorted home by Israeli soldiers.

According to a statement by the Jerusalem Brigades the attack was revenge for the death of the regional Islamic Jihad leader Iyad Sawalha in Jenin earlier in the week as well as "other crimes against our people".

According to Palestinian sources they had prepared the ambush for more than two months, scouting the area of the attack thoroughly and studying Israeli security arrangements along the road between the Cave of the Patriarchs and Kiryat Arba.

According to Haaretz, Abu Dosh was the "operations officer" of Islamic Jihad in the Hebron area and the right-hand man of Sidr.

[14] Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told IDF commanders in Hebron two days after the incident that a territorial continuity between the settlement of Kiryat Arba and the Jewish section of Hebron must be created and the safety of the Jews living in the divided city be ensured, reducing to a minimum the presence of Palestinians in the area in which the settlers live.

Housing and Construction Minister Natan Sharansky supported the plan and ordered his ministry's workers to review the possibility of expropriating lands in the city and using them for Jewish residential purposes.

According to the American administration and Israeli sources close to the planning, the aim of the expropriation of the land and the building of the promenade was to create territorial contiguity between Kiryat Arba and Hebron.

The young man had been beaten and then thrown out of the patrol car at full speed, causing his head to fatally strike the road.

Gilad Millo, spokesman of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, originally called the attack as the "Sabbath massacre," and Israel's Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement, calling the event "The cold-blooded attack on civilians whose only 'sin' was to go to a holy place of worship on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath and on those people assigned to protect them".International media outlets initially reported that the Palestinian ambush had targeted both settlers and soldiers.

[23] but on 19 November, the Spokesman for Secretary-General said, "The information available to us when the statement was issued was that the victims were Israeli civilians returning from religious service...Subsequently, it now appears that the Israeli victims were in fact soldiers and security personnel" and urged "a broad approach to resolving the Middle East conflict".

[28] A month after the incident, the three killed civilian security men were formally recognized by the Ministry of Defense as "fallen soldiers.

[30] On 12 December, two Palestinian fighters from Islamic Jihad walked up to two Israeli Military Policemen, from the Sahlav unit, doing guard duty outside the Cave of the Patriarchs and shot them point-blank.