Residents of the southern Bedouin town of Hura where Islamic State-affiliated terrorist Mohammad Abu al-Kian lived condemned Wednesday the deadly attack at a Be'er Sheva mall in which four people were killed.
The head of the Hura Municipality Alatawneh Habes required the town's education system to assign two hours to discuss the attack and make it clear that others should not imitate, nor support such violent actions.
Many school children at a school near the neighborhood where Abu al-Kian lived chose to not attend school on Wednesday due to the large police presence in the area.
"There is tension in the air, and our children were affected by this unexpected attack. They started to ask questions about what is going to happen next," a father of two students living in the neighborhood told Ynet.
"We didn't sleep all night, we were thinking about what happened, and we are all still in shock. Mohammad has a family and children, there are too many questions right now, but I guess we will soon get the answers."
People close to the terrorist's family claimed that his parents are still shocked.
"We can't believe our son did this, we are still trying to figure out why he decided to do this and when. His behavior was normal, and he never talked about hurting others. We condemn and reject his actions, that is not our approach, we respect and accept everyone," Abu al-Kian's parents said.
Israel Police arrested two of Abu al-Kian's brothers on Tuesday on suspicion they did not try to stop him despite seeing him leave their home with a knife.
However, the police believe he was acting on his own, even though they are still investigating whether his brothers knew about the attack.
"We are still trying to figure out if someone knew about his plans or aided him," a police official said.
Ahmad, a resident of Hura, made it clear that the attack "does not represent the residents of the town."
"You can't treat the residents of Hura like they are all criminals and murderers. The attack only represents whoever was behind it. All of us want to keep on with our lives as usual," he said.
Ahmad also asked the police not to "punish" the entire town for the actions of one man who "decided to murder people on his own accord."
Bedouin citizens from several other communities decided not to arrive at their workplaces in Be'er Sheva due to tensions. And some told Ynet that "this is a shocking and difficult situation, and it has to be taken care of to reduce the tension before another disaster will happen."
Habes also made it clear on Wednesday that "the whole town condemns the brutal murder that doesn't represent any of us."
Habes also visited Abu al-Kian's family and said that he "saw how shocked and dismayed they are, and that they still can't believe their son murdered those people. They find it very difficult to deal with what happened."