2 years on, Palestinian arrested for stabbing Israeli

Suspected terrorist, accomplice were in PA custody since attack outside a supermarket in November 2015, Shin Bet says

Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Bara'a Issa, a suspected terrorist believed to have stabbed an Israeli man outside a West Bank supermarket in 2015. (Shin Bet)
Bara'a Issa, a suspected terrorist believed to have stabbed an Israeli man outside a West Bank supermarket in 2015. (Shin Bet)

Israeli forces last week arrested a Palestinian man suspected of carrying out a stabbing attack in which an Israeli man was injured two years ago, the Shin Bet security service said Monday.

On November 6, 2015, the 29-year-old Israeli was stabbed outside a grocery store in the Sha’ar Binyamin industrial park in the West Bank, and his attacker fled the scene.

The victim, Shmuel Raisman, was stabbed in the back and taken to the hospital in serious condition, medics said at the time.

Terror attack victim Shmuel Raisman, speaks from his hospital bed, on November 8, 2015. (Screen capture: Ynet news)

Raisman, who lives in the nearby Tel Zion settlement, said he scared off his attacker with a bottle of pepper spray.

According to the Shin Bet, the terrorist — identified as Bara’a Issa — turned himself in to Palestinian Authority security services shortly after the attack and was in their custody until his arrest last week.

Though he was detained by PA forces for some two years, Issa never stood trial for the stabbing, the Shin Bet said.

Paramedics on the scene of a stabbing attack in the Sha’ar Binyamin industrial park in the West Bank on Nov. 6, 2015. (Magen David Adom)

Issa is a member of Fatah, the largest faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, which controls the PA, the Shin Bet said.

He was arrested in his hometown of Anata, outside Jerusalem, last Tuesday, after being released by PA forces, the security service said.

The Shin Bet said the PA security services did not alert Israel that Issa was going to be released.

An accomplice, Amro Abu Hlil, who was also initially detained by PA forces, was arrested by the Shin Bet in May and is currently standing trial in a military court.

“The Shin Bet security service, along with its partners in the IDF and Israel Police, will continue to work with determination in order to capture terrorist operatives and assailants who flee from security forces — even if years pass from the time of the attack,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

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