A Palestinian Authority terrorists fired 12 bullets on and Israeli military position in northern Samaria Wednesday morning before soldiers shot and killed him. None of the soldiers were injured.
“IDF soldiers acted swiftly and professionally to prevent casualties,” stated IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner following the attack. “We will continue to stand guard and protect Israeli civilians from terror acts such as this one.”
Forces from the Nahal Brigade were alerted to the scene to assist the soldiers who were attacked. The IDF is currently searching the area of the firefight, near the Jewish community of Ateret located north of Jerusalem.
The official WAFA Palestinian Authority news agency reported the incident as an attack by the IDF. “Israeli forces Wednesday opened fire and killed a Palestinian youth near the village of Ein Siniya, north of Ramallah,” it stated.
The terrorist, or in PA language the “youth,” was identified as Mohammed Mubarak, 20, from the Jalazoun village under the auspices of UNRWA. WAFA graciously added that soldiers “claimed” Mubarak shot first and that they prevented Arab medics from reaching the body.
Mubarak was armed with an improvised sub-machine gun, and it is not known if he was connected with a terrorist group. The latest “fashion” in Arab terror is for lone terrorists to wake up in the morning, say prayers to Allah and carry out the plea for martyrdom to kill Jews.
Mubarak reportedly has scouted the area for several days before attacking the IDF, which was patrolling the area where the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is carrying out road repairs. Haartez reported that the soldiers recently questioned the terrorist.
That answers any questions why the IDF conducts those “demeaning” searchers at checkpoints in Judea and Samaria.
The attack has been buried by most Israeli media under the avalanche of news of his political war between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jewish Home party chairman Naftali Bennett and the report by New York Times’ columnist Thomas Friedman on details of the “framework” to be presented by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
As usual, everyone is concentrating on the secondary issue and not the most important event, but Arab terror almost always plays second fiddle to peace talks.