First Sgt. Yosef Kirma and Levana Malichi were murdered in the Oct. 9 shooting attack in Jerusalem, and six additional people were wounded. The perpetrator of the attack was well known by East Jerusalem residents as a prominent, assertive activist at Al-Aqsa Mosque. A week before the bloody attack, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency had interviewed him by phone, at which time he spoke about his deeds and encounters with the “Zionist enemy.” The would-be assailant said that he was preparing to serve four months in an Israeli prison for attacking a policeman.
He had also been summoned for trial after being accused of incitement. In a December 2015 Facebook post, he wrote, “There are men who will redeem Al-Aqsa with their blood. Those Jerusalem youths who take part in the intifada — we should kiss the ground on which they tread. They are like lions fighting for their territory.” The assailant matches the profile of a Palestinian fueled by religious, Islamic fervor, who perpetrates terror attacks against Israelis.