Two deadly ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks carried out in southern and central Israel

Overview

• On March 22 and 27, 2022, two deadly terrorist attacks were carried out, one in Beersheba, in southern Israel, and one in Hadera, in the country’s center. So far it is unclear if they were connected. Four Israelis were killed in Beersheba and two were wounded. In Hadera two Israelis were killed and five were wounded. The following are some of the details of the attacks:
  • Both were carried out in cifty centers and targeted innocent passersby.
  • The terrorists who carried out the attacks were Israeli Arabs from Hura (Beersheba) and Umm al-Fahm (Hadera), and were ISIS sympathizers. At least two of them tried to go to Syria to fight in the ranks of ISIS and served sentences in Israeli jails. However, a preliminary investigation revealed a local ISIS network with no direct connection between the terrorists and ISIS headquarters.
  • ISIS issued an official claim of responsibility for the attack in Hadera. It mentioned the attack in Beersheba although no separate claim of responsibility was issued. The attack in Hadera was one of the few instances in which ISIS claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack inside Israel.
  • In both instances the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership did not issue an official statement. Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other terrorist organizations were quick to praise the attacks and attackers, even though they were affiliated with ISIS. Hezbollah, which sent its operatives to fight ISIS in Syria, also welcomed the attacks. In the Gaza Strip, pastries and candy were distributed to passersby.
  • The attack in Beersheba was carried out by one terrorist who used his vehicle and a knife. The attack in Hadera was more complex and had to have been pre-planned, possibly with the involvement of others. It was carried out by two terrorists who acquired guns, issued a video before the attack and arrived by car.
• It is unclear why now, when the strength and influence of ISIS are declining in both Syria and Iraq, Israeli Arabs would choose to carry out attacks in the name of the organization. When ISIS was at the height of its power, between 2014 and 2015, about fifty Israeli Arabs joined it and other jihadist organizations. Some of them were killed while fighting in Syria, while others returned to Israel and were tried. The Bedouin population in the Negev was a center for ISIS activity (See Appendix).
• A number of Israeli Arabs from Umm al-Fahm also went to Syria to fight but the infiltration of ISIS ideology into Israeli Arab and Bedouin society was limited compared to Western countries, and most Israeli Arabs opposed the organization.
• As for Hamas, while it tries to preserve relative calm in the Gaza Strip while it rebuilds its military capabilities and the civilian infrastructure, and it enjoys measures instituted by Israel to ease the daily lives of the Gazans, including being allowed to work in Israel, it also appeals to residents of Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem, as well as Israeli Arabs, and encourages them to carry out terrorist attacks. Muhammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, who has become a symbol of anti-Israel violence, has also been enlisted in the campaign, and Hamas supporters in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem chant his name while calling for terrorist attacks. Moreover, most of the attacks recently carried out in Judea and Samaria, and especially in Jerusalem, were effusively praised by Hamas, and in some instances it was stressed that the terrorist was a Hamas operative. However, in no instance did Hamas issue an official claim of responsibility for an attack.
• The two most recent attacks, despite having been carried out by terrorists affiliated with radical Islam and ISIS, which is hostile to Hamas, were also praised by Hamas and by other terrorist organizations. For them the attacks “proved” the connection between the Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, and Israeli Arabs. The connection began in May 2021, when Operation Guardian of the Walls was marked by the Palestinians as the turning point in relations between Israeli Arabs and the Palestinians. That occurred after Arabs in some of Israel’s mixed cities rioted during the fighting. Carrying out an attack on the anniversary of the death of Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’ founder and ideologue, strengthened the connection even more.
• Note: Two weeks ago the Palestinian and Islamist organizations in the Gaza Strip announced the founding of a “national authority for the support of Palestinians inside the 1948 territories,” i.e., Israeli Arabs (Sawa, March 12, 2022). It is theoretically responsible for protest and propaganda activities, including the social media, to “support” and strengthen ties with Israeli Arabs. The main underlying theme is that Palestinians cannot be separated, regardless of where they live (al-Aqsa, March 14, 2022). Muhsen Abu Ramadan, appointed to chair the authority, said Israeli Arabs had proved they truly belonged to the Palestinian people on Land Day in 1976, and in Jerusalem during Operation Guardian of the Walls when they “defended” the city and its holy sites (al-Quds al-Arabi, March 12, 2022).
• The first event took place on March 26, 2022, a rally in the Gaza Strip near the Karni Crossing, where in the past return marches were held. As the rally was being held, Bedouin in two unrecognized settlements the Negev simultaneously planted trees. Recently, Bedouins protested and uprooted saplings planted by the Jewish National Fund. Muhammad Baraka, chairman of the Arab Israeli monitoring committee, gave a speech at the rally in Gaza, harshly criticizing Israel for its activities in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, which he alleged were “crimes” against the land, history and the holy sites. He also referred to what he called the “barbaric siege of the Gaza Strip” and the ongoing expansion of the settlements (“cancerous growths”) in Judea and Samaria (Shehab website, March 26, 2022). He gave a similar speech at the event in the Negev.

The Terrorist Attack in Beersheba

The attack

• On the afternoon of March 22, 2022, a Bedouin from the village of Hura in the Negev began his spree of murder. He drove to a gas station on the Hebron-Beersheba road, exited the vehicle and stabbed a civilian to death. Then he drove to a crowded shopping mall in the center of Beersheba, again exited the vehicle and stabbed two more civilians. He got back into the vehicle and drove on the wrong side of the road, ramming into a bicycle and killing the rider. When he exited the vehicle again, knife in hand, two civilians shot and killed him. He had killed two men and two women, and wounded two women. Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said the terrorist was known to Israeli security and had been imprisoned (Israel HaYom, March 22, 2022).

The terrorist

•  The terrorist who carried out the attack was Muhammad Ghaleb Ahmed Abu al-Qi’an, born in 1988, from the village of Hura, formerly a high school teacher in the village. He was detained for interrogation in July 2015, admitted he supported ISIS and had participated in meetings with other ISIS supporters in Hura. He also confessed to planning to leave for Syria in July 2015 to join the ranks of ISIS, pretending he was going on an umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca not part of the hajj. An indictment was presented to a regional court in Beersheba, stating Muhammad Abu al-Qi’an had participated in a meeting held by an outlawed association which had ties to crime, attempted to join an outlawed association and attempted to leave the country illegally. He was released from jail a year and a half ago.

Reactions

• The PA leadership did not publicly relate to the attack or to Abu al-Qi’an. The Palestinian media, including those subordinate to the PA, gave extensive coverage to the attack, claiming it was the worst suffered by Israel in recent years. Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, the official PA newspaper, posted notices calling the terrorist a shaheed (a martyr for the sake of Allah). Shortly afterwards the notice were removed from the website, according to the Israeli media because of a message sent to the Palestinian leadership from the office of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Israeli TV Kan 11, March 23, 2022). Hamas issued a notice mocking Hussein al-Sheikh, PA minister of civilian affairs and a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, after the Israeli media [Kan 11] reported he said he was shocked by the attack in Beersheba (Shehab Twitter account, March 24, 2022).

• Despite the fact that the terrorist was an ISIS operative, spokesmen for the Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip issued a notice welcoming and praising both the attack and the terrorist who carried it out, and in the Gaza Strip pastries and candy were distributed in the street to passersby. Some sources, especially in Hamas, linked the attack to the anniversary of the death of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, issuing notices on the various social media.

   
Pastries and candy distributed to passersby in the streets of Gaza City to celebrate the deaths of Israelis (Twitter account of journalist Hassan Aslih, March 22, 2022).

• The main reactions:
  • Hamas issued a formal announcement welcoming the “heroic attack” carried out in Beersheba by released prisoner Ghaleb Abu al-Qi’an. According to the announcement, the “heroic attack” was the natural reaction to the “crimes of the [Israeli] occupation” against the Palestinian people. It was also, according to the announcement, part of the Palestinian people’s “chain of resistance” against Israel. Hamas called on the Bedouins of the Negev, the Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem, and on Israeli Arabs to escalate the “struggle” against Israel and the settlers to “defend” the land and the holy sites, and as a sign of loyalty to the blood of the shaheeds, until the “liberation” and the realization of the “right of return” (Hamas website, March 22, 2022).
  • Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua praised the terrorist who carried out the “heroic action” in Beersheba. He said the only way to deal with Israel’s “crimes” was through heroic actions such as stabbing, vehicular ramming and shooting. He added that the attack was a reaction to Israel’s [alleged] “policy of ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinian people and carried out on the anniversary of the death of Ahmed Yassin, thereby reinforcing his legacy (al-Aqsa, March 22, 2022).
  • Senior Hamas figure Musheir al-Masri told the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Mayadeen TV that the attack in Beersheba showed “Palestinian geographic unity.” He called the attack the natural reaction to the “actions of the occupation,” adding that they had established a front to support the Bedouin residents of the Negev in confrontations with Israel. He also said Bedouin confrontations with Israel “proved” Israel’s frustration (al-Mayadeen, Lebanon, March 23, 2022).

• PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah, interviewed by Hezbollah-affiliated al-Ahed TV, called the stabbing attack an expression of the Palestinian people’s “resistance.” He claimed Israel’s presence on “Palestinian land” was the reason for the ongoing struggle, and that other activities carried out by Israel, such as demolishing houses and appropriating land, were additional factors that pushed the Palestinians to “resistance.” He also claimed “resistance” was an obligation because it was the natural reaction to occupation, and noted that the “national authority for the defense of Arabs of the 1948 territories” had been established to preserve ties with the Arab residents of Israel, and also expressed the unity of the Palestinian people wherever they were found (Filastin al-Yawm, March 26, 2022).
• PIJ spokesman Tareq Salami said the organization welcomed the “action” in Beersheba. He called the “natural reaction to Israel’s crimes” in the Negev, claiming it made Israel realize yet again that the Palestinian people would not surrender or abandon jihad (Filastin al-Yawm, March 22, 2022).

•  The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the Gaza Strip, the Nidal al-Amoudi Brigades, which split off from Fatah, issued a notice praising the attack (al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades’ Telegram channel, March 23, 2022).

• Hezbollah also welcomed the attack and praised the terrorist who carried it out. According to the organization, the attack was an expression of the “spirit of resistance” of the Palestinian people fighting the “occupation” (Hezbollah information Telegram channel, March 24, 2022). Abu Ali al-Askari, spokesman for the Hezbollah brigade militia in Iraq, praised the attack and the stance of the Palestinians, which “proved,” he claimed, there was hope for restoring Palestine [sic] to its people (al-Askari’s Telegram channel, March 25, 2022)

The Terrorist Attack in Hadera

The attack

• At around 20:00 on March 27, 2022, two terrorists drove to Herbert Samuel Street in the central Israeli city of Hadera. They exited the vehicle armed with handguns and shot and killed two Border Police fighters standing near a bus stop, and wounded two others. They took the fighters’ weapons and continued shooting. An undercover Border Police unit which happened to be at the site at the time, identified the terrorists, exchanged fire with them and shot and killed them. Three people were wounded in the gunfight (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, March 28, 2022).

   
The terrorists during the attack (CCTV, March 27, 2022).

• The terrorists brought a large quantity of weapons with them, including three handguns, three knives, automatic rifles, ammunition magazines and a box of hundreds of bullets stolen from the IDF. Apparently planning to take M-16 assault rifles from Israeli security forces, the terrorists came equipped with ammunition for them.

The terrorists

• The terrorists who carried out the attack were Ayman Ighbariah and Ibrahim Ighbariah (sometimes identified as Khaled, including in notices and some claims of responsibility). They were cousins and lived in the northern Arab city of Umm al-Fahm. In 2016 Ibrahim Ighbariah was detained in Gaziantep, southern Turkey, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) away from the Syrian border (Umm al-Fahm Facebook page, March 27, 2022). The Israeli media reported he was deported to Israel, tried, sentenced, imprisoned and released after confessing and stating he felt remorse for his action and promised he would not join the ranks of ISIS or any other terrorist organization.

   
Right: Ayman Ighbariah (left) and Ibrahim Ighbariah (Watan, March 27, 2022). Left: Local residents gather near the terrorists’ house in Umm al-Fahm
(Twitter account of journalist Hassan Aslih, March 27, 2022).

• The terrorists upload a video to the Internet before they left for the attack. In the background there is an improvised ISIS flag. ISIS’s A’maq information agency, which issued the video, said the two could be seen swearing loyalty to the new leader of ISIS. At the end one of them says, “We have come to slaughter you” (Telegram, March 27, 2022).

ISIS’s official claim of responsibility

• ISIS formally claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel. The caption read, “12 infidel Jewish forces killed and wounded in a sacrifice attack”^[1] carried out by soldiers of the Caliphate [i.e., ISIS] in northern Palestine.” According to the announcement, the two who carried out the “sacrifice attack,” Ayman Ighbariah and Khaled Ighbariah, attacked a force of “infidel Jewish police” in the city of Hadera in northern Palestine, and there was an exchange of machinegun fire which killed two policemen and wounded ten others. The claim of responsibility ends by noting that the Jewish infidels should know that the promise [to attack them] will be kept them sooner or later (Telegram, March 27, 2022).

• The A’maq agency, ISIS’s media outlet, also issued a formal announcement stating that “security sources” told the agency that two Islamic State fighters had gone to Herbert Samuel Street in Hadera, a city in northern Palestine, and opened fire on a force of Jewish policemen, killing two of them. The sources added that the two who carried out the sacrifice attack, Ayman and Khaled Ighbariah, had gone to Hadera to confront local Jewish forces and had wounded ten policemen and killed two. According to A’maq, the attack took place a few days after a sacrifice attack carried out by Muhammad Abu al-Qi’an near a commercial center in the middle of Beersheba, a city in southern Palestine, killing four Jews, one of them a rabbi (Telegram, March 27, 2022).

Reactions

• The terrorist attack in Hadera received favorable reactions from Hamas, the PIJ and other terrorist organizations. Some linked it to the summit conference of foreign ministers at Sde Boker, which began the same evening. In the Gaza Strip, operatives weaking vests with the Hamas logo, distributed pastries and candy to passersby. The Palestinian social media posted many videos glorifying the attack and terrorists.
• The PA leadership did not publicly comment on the attack. The media affiliated with the PA, including al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, completely ignored it. A minor notice appeared on the paper’s Facebook page stating that according to Israeli sources two people had been killed in a shooting attack in Hadera. The front page was devoted to a Price Tag activity, which the paper alleged had been carried out by Israeli settlers in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus, before dawn on the same day (al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, March 28, 2022). The same was true of Wafa, the news agency subordinate to Mahmoud Abbas’ office, which completely ignored the attack and issued a selection of pictures and videos it claimed documented the Price Tag activity in Jalud (Wafa Facebook page, March 27 and 28, 2022)
• Hamas issued a notice dedicated to the memory of the terrorists and an announcement praising what it called “a heroic action” in Hadera against the soldiers of the Zionist occupation [sic]. According to the announcement, the attack was a legitimate reaction to Israel and its crimes against the Palestinian people and the holy sites (Shehab website, March 27, 2022). Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanua said “today in Hadera, a few days ago in Beersheba, and in the future the entire Zionist entity” (Abd al-Latif al-Qanua’s Twitter account, March 27, 2022).

   
Right: The Hamas notice reading “Attack in Hadera #one_homeland” (Shehab Twitter account, March 27, 2022). Left: Hamas operative wearing a vest with the Hamas logo distributes candy to celebrate the death of Israelis (al-Aqsa radio website, March 27, 2022).

• PIJ spokesman Da’ud Shehab claimed the return of attacks deep within Israel was “vital for deterrence.” He added that the attack in Hadera was the response of the Palestinian people to the meeting of “evil” [the Negev summit conference] attended by Arab foreign ministers. The objective of the attack, he claimed, was to send a strong message of deterrence to the settlers and IDF soldiers, who had killed hundreds of Palestinians in cold blood (al-Mayadeen, March 27, 2022).
• Senior PIJ figure Jamil Alian said the “heroic attack” in Hadera was a strong message from the Palestinian people to [stop] the attempts [of Israel] to break their will. He said that by their courage, the Arabs living in Israel had proved they were prepared to defend the homeland [sic] and the Palestinian cause (Shams News, March 27, 2022). Senior PIJ operative Yusuf al-Hasainah said the attack was a strong blow to the representatives of the Arab states (“the infidel regime and normalization”) who were meeting in the occupied Negev with the American Secretary of State and the foreign minister of “the Zionist entity” (Filastin al-Yawm, March 27, 2022). PIJ spokesman in Judea and Samaria Tareq Izz al-Din claimed the attack had been carried out at the right time as a response to the attempt to normalize relations with Israel (Khansaa Palestine website, March 27, 2022).
• The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed the shooting attack in Hadera was a response to the “crimes of the occupation and settlers” against the Palestinians and “resistance” to all types of normalization of relations and meetings with Israel, including the current summit meeting in the Negev. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine welcomed the attack, which it claimed was a response to the summit “normalization of relations” meeting of attended by Arab foreign ministers on the land of the Negev in Israel. The attack, claimed the PFLP, sent Israel the strong message that the Palestinian people were determined to “resist” and to respond to actions taken against them (Shehab website, March 27, 2022).
• Hezbollah welcomed the attack, which it claimed proved the strong stance of the Palestinians against the meeting for normalization of relations with Israel, with the participation of [the foreign ministers of] some of the Arab regimes (Hezbollah website, March 27, 2022).

Appendix

ISIS Recruitment of Israeli Arabs

• At the height of the Islamic State’s power it was estimated that about 50 Israeli Arabs joined ISIS and the other jihadist organizations. Some of them were killed in the fighting, while others returned to Israel and were brought to trial. ISIS actively recruited Bedouins from the Negev, prominent among whom were several members of the Abu al-Qi’an clan from the village of Hura. At the time, the exposure of the network indicated the infiltration of ISIS ideology into Israeli Arab society and the Bedouin of the Negev, although only to a limited extent compared to other Western countries, and the overwhelming majority of Israeli Arabs were strongly opposed to ISIS (Israeli Security Agency, July 6, 2015).
• On September 3, 2014, to deter Israeli Arabs from joining ISIS, Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s Defense Minister at the time, signed an order outlawing ISIS. It allowed legal measures to be taken against raising funds for the organization and against ISIS networks and operatives, including those who left Israel to fight in its ranks in Syria and Iraq. On October 27, 2014, the Israeli ministerial committee for legal issues unanimously supported a proposed law that would allow Israelis to be brought to trial if they had joined terrorist organizations operating in foreign countries, such as ISIS, even if the organizations did not direct their activities against Israel (Haaretz, October 27, 2014).
• That led to internal resistance within the Islamic Movement in Israel, whose ideology is based on the Muslim Brotherhood movement. A rally was held by the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Umm al-Fahm, where the movement’s leader Sheikh Ra’ed Salah said ISIS’s activities were inappropriate for Islam and its objective was to damage the image of Islam and Muslims. He also noted the Islamic Movement’s commitment to the Islamic position, which was a globally united Islam against ISIS. However, he also expressed opposition to the coalition formed by the United States to fight ISIS, which he called “a danger to the Arab world” (Ynet, September 12, 2014).

ISIS activity in Hura

• In July 2015 the Israeli security forces detained six Bedouin from the Negev village of Hura. The six belonged to the al-Qi’an clan, which supported ISIS. Four of the six were teachers in Hura and the Bedouin city of Rahat. The six had participated in secret meetings where they dealt with ISIS’s ideology. Some of them spread ISIS’s ideas to their friends, families and acquaintances through the social media and Internet. Some of them weighed the option of leaving Israel to join the fighting in Syria in the ranks of ISIS. According to the Israeli Security Agency, the four teachers tried to indoctrinate students and other teachers in their schools (Israeli Security Agency, July 6, 2015; Haaretz, July 7, 2015).

• Even before the six were detained there were reports that Israeli Bedouin from the Abu al-Qi’an clan had joined ISIS and helped volunteers leave for Syria. For example, Uthman Abu al-Qi’an, 26, left Israel with Shafiq Abu al-Qi’an to join ISIS in Syria. Uthman Abu al-Qi’an was killed in Syria at the beginning of September 2014 while fighting in the ranks of ISIS. He had studied medicine in Irbid University in Jordan, graduating in May 2014, after which he interned in the Barzilai Medical Center in the southern Israeli city of Ashqelon (Haaretz, September 20, 2014). The Israeli media reported he was the second clan member to be killed in Syria. Another member of the clan who was a also teacher was killed while fighting in the ranks of ISIS (nana10, November 4, 2014).
• Idris Abu al-Qi’an, Uthman’s brother, also accepted Salafist-jihadi ideology. He helped Uthman and Shafiq with financing and coordinating the trip to Syria through Turkey. He was indicted for conspiring to commit a crime and helping [others] to leave the country illegally (Israeli Security Agency website, November 9, 2014). According to the Israeli media, during interrogation he confessed he knew the cousins planned to go to Syria and helped them coordinate the trip through Turkey. He also gave helped pay for their trip and gave them information about local sources that could help them. According to the investigation, most connections with terrorists were carried out through the social networks (Israeli Channel 7, May 27, 2014).

ISIS activity in Umm al-Fahm

• Several residents of the northern Israeli-Arab city of Umm al-Fahm were recruited to ISIS:
  • On May 28, 2015, Muhammad Jemal Suleiman (Abu Raed), 21, was accused of supporting ISIS on his Facebook page. According to the indictment his he had 300 friends on his Mohammed Abo Raed Facebook page. In his personal profile he represented himself as a “hired killed” who worked “killing infidels, the enemies of Allah,” and claimed that in the past he had worked as a saboteur. On various occasions between February and April 2015 he posted solidarity with ISIS and praise for its operations. He also posted pictures of ISIS operatives and the ISIS flag. It was the first occasion on which as Israeli citizen was accused of using the Internet to support ISIS.
  • During 2015 Salah al-din Mahameid, 23, and his wife and baby son went to Turkey. From there they infiltrated into Syria and joined ISIS (Haaretz, June 22, 2015).
  • Khalil Saleh al-Sayid, 28, married and a father, was killed, apparently during an American aerial attack while fighting in the ranks of ISIS in Syria. Three years before his death he went to Syria through Turkey. His family said that once he arrived in Syria he no longer contacted them. The family learned of his death through the social networks (Ynet, March 13, 2016).
  • In July 2017 two brothers who supported ISIS were detained. They had pictures and materials confirming suspicions they supported ISIS’s ideology. Both had sworn loyalty to the leader of ISIS. One brother planned to leave Israel and join ISIS in Syria. To that end he was in contact with an ISIS operative in Syria who formerly lived in Umm al-Fahm and had left to join the fighting in 2014.
  • In January 2018 three Israeli Arabs were detained, one of them underage, who planned to carry out a shooting attack on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, similar to the one carried out in July 2017 [by a resident of Umm al-Fahm] in which two Israeli policemen were killed. They also considered attacking synagogues or churches and Israeli security forces, carrying out vehicular ramming attacks, etc. During interrogation two of them were discovered to be supporting ISIS’s ideology (Israeli Security Agency website, February 27, 2018).

ISIS-inspired terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, 2016

• At around 21:00 on June 8, 2016, two terrorist operatives wearing suits and carrying briefcases entered a restaurant in the Sarona commercial center in Tel Aviv. They sat at an outside table near the entrance. A short time later they took improvised machineguns out of their briefcases and randomly shot at restaurant patrons, patrons of another restaurant and passersby. Security guards returned their fire, and one of the terrorists was shot in the leg. The other fled and was captured a short time later on a nearby street. Four people were killed and seven wounded, three of them critically. The two terrorists were detained. The wounded terrorist was taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

   
The attack photographed by security camera, June 8, 2016.

• The two terrorist operatives were cousins from the village of Yatta in the Hebron region, who had no previous record of security violations. One of the operatives had been influenced by ISIS ideology while studying in Jordan. When he returned home in January 2016 he decided to carry out a terrorist attack with a friend. They were never officially recruited by ISIS and did not receive help or guidance from ISIS operatives. They were helped by a third terrorist operative who provided them with weapons. At the last minute they prevented him from participating in the attack because he owed money (which, according to Islamic belief, prevented him from becoming a shaheed).

^[1] I.e., an attack carried out by a terrorist who does stop attacking until he has been killed. ↑

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