Palestinian charged with assaulting wife, then attempting suicide by proxy at Israeli checkpoint

The police investigation revealed that a few days prior to the attempted attack, the suspect had tried to harm and drown his wife and poured acid on her face.

By Aryeh Savir/TPS 

An Arab man is facing severe charges in an Israeli court after he tried to drown his wife, spilled acid on her face, and was arrested by the police several days later, while armed with a knife at the Al Jib checkpoint on suspicion of attempting an attack.

Israeli police have completed the interrogation of a Palestinian Authority resident of Ramallah in his 40s on suspicion of attempting to carry out a stabbing attack at a checkpoint near Jerusalem.

The police investigation revealed that a few days prior to the attempted attack, the suspect had tried to harm and drown his wife and poured acid on her face.

On December 1, the suspect arrived in a vehicle at the Al Jib checkpoint with the aim of carrying out an attack on the police with a knife. During his check by Border Police officers, the suspect emerged suddenly from his vehicle and began advancing towards the policemen at the checkpoint while rummaging through his coat in a way that aroused their suspicion.

He then stood in front of the policeman and the security guard while waving a knife in his hand. After the troops trained their weapons on him, the suspect dropped his knife and was arrested.

The suspect was taken for questioning at a Jerusalem police station, during which it became apparent that a few days before the attack he tried to carry out the attack at the checkpoint, the suspect used severe violence against his wife while they were at the Dead Sea, there he allegedly tried to drown her without success.

The police investigation also shows that later on, on their way home to Ramallah, the suspect poured an acidic substance on his wife’s face, who escaped from the vehicle and quickly washed her face using water given to her by a passerby.

After a prosecutor’s statement was filed in the military court earlier this week, the military prosecutor’s office filed an indictment against the would-be terrorist on Thursday.

Israel’s security forces have documented multiple instances in which Arab terrorists were dispatched by family members as a form of punishment and suicide by proxy, to atone for sins against the family. Israelis have lost their lives in these attacks.

Similarly, terrorists have been found to commit attacks with the intent of being killed or arrested by Israeli forces to escape troubles at home.

Yet others commit the attacks to gain an allowance from the Palestinian Authority, which pays a monthly stipend to terrorists and their families.