The Israel Defense Forces has announced that it is investigating an attack on an Israeli youth and ensuing battle that left one Arab dead outside the community of Adei Ad in Samaria.
According to a representative of Adei Ad, a group of Jewish hikers was stabbed and beaten on Saturday by a violent Arab mob just outside their town when an emergency rapid-response team was called in to save the young men. In the confrontation to extract the hikers and prevent a kidnapping, the team used live fire, killing one Arab man.
IDF and Border Police arrived, and were forced to utilize riot-dispersal techniques to break up a growing crowd of Arabs.
“Earlier today, a physical confrontation evolved between a number of Palestinians and an Israeli civilian adjacent to the community of Adei Ad in the Ramallah district, during which the civilian was lightly injured and did not need medical evacuation,” said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
One of the Jewish victims said he took a stroll about 650 feet from the town around noon for some private reflection and prayer when three Arabs attacked him with knives, beating him and attempting to drag him towards their village of Al-Mughayyir.
When he managed to escape, he fled to his community and called the emergency rapid-response team. He reportedly suffered stab wounds, but was listed in light condition.
Additional Arab men arrived on the scene, reportedly numbering in the dozens. The throng allegedly became aggressive with the security forces, attacking them and throwing stones.
One of the attackers, Hamdi Taleb Na’asan, was shot dead. Following his death, photos of Na’asan from the eight years he served in Israeli prison for previous attacks on Jews circulated on social media.
“The community of Adei Ad relentlessly sees the repeated attacks by residents of the Arab villages in the region, and they call on the security forces to respond harshly and punish all the villages of terrorism,” a community notice stated.
However, the Arabs responded with a different version of events, insisting that a group of young Jews attacked residents of Al-Mughayyir at an olive grove and began to shoot them.
“With the protection of the army, settlers attempted to raid the village from its northern end,” Al-Mughayyir Mayor Faraj Na’asan told The Times of Israel. “The people then confronted the settlers to prevent them from entering the village. The settlers then opened fire on us, killing one of our sons, while the army shot into the air. The person who they killed was my nephew.”
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said responsibility for the attacks lies with “gangs of settlers,” which led to “the martyrdom of Hamdi Na’asan.”
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have called for revenge.
