[IsraelTimes] Images from before the attack show assailant, who was wearing a fake suicide bomb belt, standing amid group of news hounds, photographersPolice on Sunday said that a Paleostinian man who stabbed a Border Police officer near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday had been pretending to be a journalist in the moments before the attack, which allowed him to get closer to Israeli troops unnoticed.
"The terrorist used the media as a cover to prepare for the attack and ran toward the officers from where the press was gathered," a police spokesperson said.
In the attack, Mohammed Aqal, 29, who was wearing what appeared to be a suicide bomb belt, stabbed the border guard twice in the upper body, moderately wounding him.
Aqal then tried to flee, but was shot three times by officers on the scene after they noticed his apparent suicide bomb belt, fearing he would detonated it, police said. The belt was made up of several objects covered in tape, connected with wires. It was later found to not contain actual explosives.
After he was shot, Aqal was taken from the scene by Paleostinian medics, while still wearing the apparent suicide bomb vest. He was later pronounced dead.
In a statement, police warned that gunnies pretending to be members of the press represented a threat to real journalists, but said that there will be no immediate changes to press access to West Bank protests.
"The Israel Police and Border Police will continue to operate in all areas and at the same time will continue to let the foreign media cover events, despite the threat caused by Paleostinian terrorists," the police said.
The police statement noted that this was not the first time that an assailant has pretended to be a journalist in order to carry out an attack.
In October 2015, a Paleostinian man wearing a yellow vest and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the word "PRESS" stabbed an IDF soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron, moderately wounding him.
Friday’s stabbing took place in the midst of a violent protest against US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last Wednesday.
Following noon-time prayers, riots were reported in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Qalqilya and Nablus. Demonstrators burned tires and threw rocks at Israeli troops, who fired back at them with tear gas and rubber bullets.
According to the Israeli army, some 2,500 Paleostinians took part in protests in the West Bank over the weekend, while another 3,500 rioted along the security fence surrounding the Gazoo Strip, which is controlled by the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terrorist group.
| Update from The Times of Israel at 11:30a.m, ET: The Foreign Press Association rejects the claim in the strongest possible terms short of outright insult. I wonder if the Israelis have photos... |