The terrorist circled in red
The terrorist who attempted to stab security forces at a checkpoint near Tulkarm on Tuesday was a 45-year-old naturalized Israeli citizen who was mentally ill and without intentions of hurting anyone, claimed a relative.
The man, who lived in Jatt, southwest of Umm al-Fahm, was shot dead by IDF soldiers as he ran at them at the 104 Crossing checkpoint with a knife drawn and refused their orders to stop.
The foiled attack
He was born a Palestinian in Tulkarm and married an Arab Israeli woman 17 years ago who lived nearby in Israel. He thus acquired Israeli citizenship. The two had lived in the region, inside of Israel, ever since.
A relative of the man said that they had three daughters and a son. He said that the man suffered from mental health issues. "We were very surprised to hear that he had been shot by soldiers. How do they shoot a man who suffers from a disease? He wasn't a danger to others. The soldiers should have stopped him without hurting him."
He described his dead relative as "a simple man who didn't think of hurting others. Even now, we don't understand what caused the soldiers to shoot him. It's a very worrying act. You don't need to treat every man who goes through a checkpoint like a dangerous man." According to him, the relatives are waiting for the results of the investigation to understand just what took place.
In footage that was recorded at the scene of the attack, the moment where the man was shot was filmed. The soldiers are seen calling at him to stop, and they appear to initially fire at the ground. However, the man continued approaching them, and they then shot at his upper body, killing him.
The IDF's initial investigation found that the soldiers acted correctly and responsibly, in accordance with orders. It found that the soldiers involved, a unit from the Home Front Command's Shahar Battalion, shot into the air as part of the rules of stopping a suspicious person. Nearby the soldiers was the battalion's deputy commander, a major, who was the soldier who fired at the ground and then at the attacker's body.
Yoav Zitun contributed to this report.