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Palestinian teen shot by IDF was committing act of terror

Arab List slams shooting as an “execution,” ignores danger to life posed by the young terrorist’s action.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

An IDF unit fired at a group of Palestinian terrorists throwing firebombs at cars in the Gush Etzion region Tuesday night, killing one assailant who turned out to be a teenager.

The site of the attack, on Route 60 near the village of al-Khader in the Bethlehem region, is a known danger spot, as Molotov cocktails have been flung at vehicles there at least seven times in the last month alone.

An army spokesman said that soldiers had been keeping the spot under observation and identified three suspects approaching the road.

“The troops fired at one of the suspects while he threw a Molotov cocktail and hit him,” the IDF spokesperson said in a statement.

The soldiers gave him first aid after he fell, but he died of his wounds en route to a hospital.

MK Ofer Cassif of the Joint Arab List immediately condemned the shooting while completely ignoring the victim’s actions that seriously endangered innocent motorists.

“The occupation forces executed Muhammad Shahada, a 14-year-old Palestinian child, near Bethlehem,” Cassif tweeted.

In contrast, Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shlomo Ne’eman was relieved that the danger posed by the gang of terrorists was eliminated.

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“The IDF soldiers did well to kill the Arab who tried to burn Jews alive,” he said. “If this trend continues, I am sure we will see fewer firebombs in Gush Etzion in particular and in Judea and Samaria in general. Well done!”

The terrorist tactic of throwing gasoline-filled bottles at cars is second only to trying to kill motorists with rocks on the roads of Judea and Samaria. Last year, there were 350 fire-bombings recorded throughout the region, and about 1,700 incidents of rock-throwing.

The trend continues in 2022; there has been a wave of fire bombings over the last several weeks. A group of Palestinians was seen tossing Molotov cocktails on Monday at the fence of the village of Migdal Oz, also in Gush Etzion. Last month, five gasoline-filled bottles were thrown at a bus traveling between Hebron and Gush Etzion.

Last October, Israeli soldiers killed one Palestinian terrorist and injured another, both of whom were firebombing Route 60 at a tunnel section built to bypass hostile Palestinian villages.

Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria have long complained that security forces have not been taking the danger of rock throwing and fire-bombings seriously enough. As a result, they take their lives in their hands on a daily basis while driving to and from their homes.