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Photo:
Staff Sgt. Asil Faour Sawaed, 22. Published by IMEMC News and Haaretz

Mohammad Bassel Zilbani, 13. Published by IMEMC News

Israeli security forces at the scene of the attack at a checkpoint in East Jerusalem Credit: Emil Salman Published by Haaretz

Israeli security forces in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem on Monday night Credit: Israel Police Spokesperson's Office Published by IMEMC News
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by IMEMC News
Feb 14, 2023

Israeli sources have confirmed, Monday, the death of a border police officer who was shot by friendly fire after an alleged stabbing attack at a military roadblock on the main entrance of Shu’fat refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem in the West Bank. The Palestinian who allegedly attempted the stabbing attack is a 13-year-old child who was detained.

The sources identified the officer as Staff Sgt. Asil Faour Sawaed, 22, and said that he was conducting what was described as a “routine inspection” when the incident occurred.

They added that the officer was shot by friendly fire before being rushed to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he succumbed to his wounds.

The officer is an Arab citizen of Israel from the village of Al-Husseiniyya, northeast of Safed in the Northern District.

According to Israeli Ynet News, Sawaed was shot when a “civilian security guard” opened fire to “neutralize the attacker” but accidentally shot the officer.

Ynet News said the officer and the civilian guard got on a bus to conduct a routine inspection when the Palestinian lunged at the officer with a knife and stabbed him, and added, “the security guard opened fire to neutralize the attacker and the officer was apparently by a misfire.”

The Palestinian child was identified as Mohammad Bassel Zilbani, 13; shortly after the reported incident, dozens of soldiers invaded his family’s home and ransacked the property before abducting his parents and brother.
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Slain Israeli Border Police Officer, Stabbed by Palestinian Teen, Was Also Hit by Friendly Fire

Police say the Border Police officer was shot when a civilian security guard opened fire at the assailant. This is the second attack by a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem on Monday amidst increased tensions between Israel and the Palestinians

by Josh Breiner and Yael Freidson for Haaretz
Feb 13, 2023

A Border Police officer who was stabbed Monday by a 13-year-old Palestinian and then shot by a security guard working alongside side him has died of his wounds. The incident happened on a bus at a checkpoint at the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.

According to police, the Border Police officer, identified as 22-year-old Asil Suaad from the Bedouin village of Hussniyya in northern Israel, was conducting a routine inspection of the vehicle when he was stabbed by the 13-year-old assailant. In response, the civilian security guard working with Suaad opened fire, hitting both Suaad and the Palestinian boy. The assailant was shot and injured, according to police.

According to Palestinian reports, Israeli security forces entered the Shuafat refugee camp shortly after the incident and arrested the assailant’s parents and one of his siblings.

Speaking to the media at the scene of the incident, the Commissioner of the Jerusalem Regional Border Police, Deputy Superintendent Amram Nidam told reporters that the attacker is part of “a noticeable increasing trend of Palestinian teenagers involved in terrorist activity.”

According to the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Office, residents threw rocks at the Israeli forces and driver attempted to run over some of the Israeli soldiers during the operation in the refugee camp. No Israelis were injured but the soldiers opened fire towards the vehicle and neutralized the driver. The driver was then taken to receive medical care.

Earlier on Monday a 17-year-old boy was wounded in a suspected stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City. Police apprehended a 14-year-old boy shortly after he fled the scene, and suspect the attack was nationalistically motivated.

The two incidents follow weeks of increased Israeli-Palestinian tension amid a number of Israeli military raids in the West Bank and fatal terror attacks, the most recent of them last Friday in Jerusalem.