Palestinian arrested after three Israelis killed in stabbing attack in West Bank settlement

Palestinian arrested after three Israelis killed in stabbing attack in West Bank settlement
A twenty year old man was detained by police after breaking into the house of a group of settlers in the West Bank and stabbing four people.
2 min read
22 July, 2017
Omar al-Abed was arrested and is currently in hospital for gunshot wounds [Facebook]
A young Palestinian man was arrested by Israeli forces on Friday night after he stabbed and killed three Israeli citizens in an Intifada stabbing attack.

Omar AbdulJalil AbdulJabbar al-Abed was captured in the Israeli settlement of Halamish in the West Bank after he entered a private home and stabbed four people, his family told The New Arab.

The fourth person escaped with serious injuries and is currently being treated at the Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem.

"We received a call from the government's liaison unit with Israel, saying that Omar was moderately wounded and is currently being held in an Israeli hospital," his relatives said.

A spokesperson for Israeli forces said a neighbour had entered the house and shot Abed after they heard a commotion.

Abed’s father said security forces had arrested and charged his son for preparing an attack three months earlier. He spent 16 days in prison and was forced to sign a pledge not to plan an attack before he was released.

Abed, 20, is a business administration student at al-Quds Open University and his family live in Kobar village, located northwest of Ramallah.

The attacker left a Facebook message shortly before the attack, in which he explained the Israeli security barriers around al-Aqsa mosque as a major reason.

A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of at least 277 Palestinians, 42 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton.

Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.

This violence worsened on Friday during a national 'Day of Anger', held to protest the introduction of metal detectors to the al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Mosque officials have called on worshippers to boycott the new security barriers, calling them a restriction on the freedom of worship.