Shortly after a change of guards they open fire on the soldiers at the checkpoint, killing three of them and moderately wounding a fourth.

One of the participants of the attack, variously named "Said Saliman Saida"[2] or "Shadi Sawaa'da"[3] (Palestinian sources identify him as Shadi Sa'id as-Su’ayida Arabic: شادي سعيد السعايدة) was later arrested and sentenced to 7 life sentences.

A leader of Al-Aqsa Brigades, Kamil Ghanam [Kamal Ranam] (Arabic: كامل غنام), claimed that Su’ayida "was in excellent health when he was arrested... We are sure Israel killed him as revenge [for the 2002 attack].

Israeli paratroopers were ordered to avenge the death of the six soldiers by attacking Palestinian police positions.

The identity of the attackers were then unknown but Israel held the Palestinian police responsible for letting them through their checkpoints.