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Palestinian Policeman Wounds Three Israeli Soldiers in Shooting Attack

by TheTower.org Staff |

Three Israeli soldiers were wounded, one seriously, when a Palestinian Authority police officer opened fire on a security checkpoint near Ramallah in the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported Monday.

The policeman, identified as 26-year-old Muhammad Turkman, opened fire at the Focus checkpoint with an AK-47 rifle before being fatally shot by IDF troops. The three soldiers each sustained gunshot wounds to their extremities. “When we arrived at the scene, we spotted a fully conscious 20-year-old suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower extremities,” a Magen David Adom paramedic said.

The seriously wounded soldier was evacuated to Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus, where his condition was upgraded to stable. The other two soldiers, who were reported to have suffered lighter shrapnel wounds, were transferred to Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem.

Turkman had served in a “special forces unit” in the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, according to the PA’s official outlet, and a picture of him sitting next to his weapon circulated on Palestinian social media following the attack.

The Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas lauded the attack and urged other members of the Palestinian security forces to follow Turkman’s example. While such attacks by PA troops are relatively rare, they are not unprecedented.

In January, Amjad Sakari, a member of the PA security forces, also opened fire at the Focus checkpoint, injuring three Israeli soldiers before being shot dead. Two weeks later, a PA policeman opened fire on a group of soldiers near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate. No soldiers were wounded in that attack.

The political leadership of the PA has been implicated in encouraging terrorist attacks against Israel.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was quoted by the official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida earlier this month praising terrorists who are imprisoned by Israel. “The prisoners’ cause is a national and central cause, and we bow our heads in admiration and honor of the prisoners’ sacrifices, for their acts of heroism, and for their ongoing battle with the occupation,” Erekat said at the time.

The Palestinian Authority pays salaries to these prisoners — the majority of whom have been convicted of terrorism-related offences — based on the number of years that they are imprisoned. In other words, the PA salary awarded to each terrorist rises along with the casualty count of their attack. One notable example is Abdallah Barghouti, who is serving 67 life sentences over his role in numerous bombings during the Second Intifada, and who has reportedly received over $150,000 for his efforts from the PA.

[Photo: Flash90 ]

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