Two Palestinian men suspected of killing three Israelis in a brutal terror attack earlier this week have been arrested near Elad following a 60-hour manhunt.

A joint statement from the Shin Bet security agency, IDF and police announced the arrests of As’ad Yousef As’ad al-Rifa’i and Subhi Emad Subhi Abu Shqeir, three days after the Yom Ha’atzmaut killings.

Fathers Yonatan Havakuk, Boaz Gol and Oren Ben Yiftah were hacked to death with knives and an axe in the majority ultra-Orthodox city of Elad on Thursday night. Several others were wounded.

According to the joint statement, the two suspects were spotted hiding near a quarry earlier today.

Footage posted online shows a cluster of Israeli security force personnel pointing guns at a bush where the two were hiding. They can be heard shouting “yalla”, or “let’s go” to the men.

The Times of Israel has reported that in another video, al-Rifa’i allegedly admitted to security forces that he committed the attack with Abu Shqeir.

“What did you do here?” an officer reportedly asked him. 

“An attack… an attack in Elad,” he responded. The officer then asked what he did in the attack. “[We] hit people… [me and] my friend, Subhi.”

Hailing the arrests, Israel Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai said: “The hunt for the terrorists is over. 

“The intense activity immediately after the incident and the flooding of the area with hundreds of policemen and soldiers, along with the means we used, forced them to hide in the area and led us to find them.”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: “We are at the beginning of a new stage in the war on terror… You cannot throw a match and escape… 

“The Israeli government’s top mission is to restore personal security to Israeli citizens.”

Thursday’s killings began with Mr Yiftah, who was driving the alleged perpetrators believing they were travelling to work.

He drove them from the West Bank security barrier to Elad, before he was hacked to death, the Times of Israel reported.

The attackers then began stabbing a crowd of people in a nearby park and street, killing two and wounding several.

The victims were fathers in their 30s or 40s who left behind a combined 16 children.

The killings follow several weeks of rising tension and several deadly attacks across Israel.