Killing three Israelis ‘is a great thing,’ says Fatah official

(Dec. 20, 2018 / Palestinian Media Watch)

A terrorist shot and murdered two Israelis and seriously wounded two others in a Dec. 13 shooting attack next to Givat Asaf near Ramallah. The terrorist fled the scene, and as of Dec. 20 has not been apprehended.

Responding to these murders, senior Fatah official Abbas Zaki said it was “a great thing.”

Applying a twisted logic, Zaki indicated that this terrorist shooting was legitimate “blood vengeance” for Palestinians killed by Israel. However, he did not differentiate between deaths of Israelis targeted by terrorists, and the deaths of the terrorists who had murdered Israelis and were killed during Israel’s attempt to capture them:

“We are proudly following the events in the West Bank. The young Palestinians are avenging a blood vengeance—three martyrs [shahids] for three Israelis. This is a great thing.” [SHMS News Agency, Dec. 13, 2018; official Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Dec. 13, 2018; official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 16, 2018]

The “three martyrs” are the terrorist murderers Ashraf Na’alwa, who murdered two of his Israeli co-workers in the Barkan Industrial Park, and Saleh Barghouti who wounded seven people at a bus stop near Ofra, leading to the death of a premature baby.

They were both killed while resisting arrest.

The third “martyr” is possibly terrorist Majdi Mteir, who was killed while committing a stabbing attack.

The three Israeli victims referred to by Zaki most likely include the baby, Amiad Yisrael Ish-Ran, who died days after he was born prematurely by emergency C-section after his mother was shot and critically wounded, and two Israel Defense Forces’ soldiers—Yosef Cohen, 19, of Beit Shemesh, and Staff Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef, 20, of Ashkelon—in the Givat Asaf attack.