Israel said to return body of Palestinian terrorist to family

According to Palestinian reports, remains of 17-year-old who stabbed three people in Old City this month transferred for burial

By ToI Staff 21 April 2017, 9:55 pm

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Ahmad Jazal, 17, from the West Bank village of Sebastia, near Nablus, in a selfie he took on the Temple Mount before he attacked Israelis and was killed in the Old City on April 1, 2017 (via Twitter)

Israeli authorities on Friday returned the body of a Palestinian teenager who earlier this month stabbed three people in Jerusalem’s Old City before being shot and killed at the scene.

According to Palestinian reports, the body of the terrorist, 17-year-old Ahmad Jazal from the West Bank village of Sebastia, near Nablus, was returned to his family for burial on Friday.

On April 1, Jazal wounded three people, two young men and a police officer, in a stabbing attack on Haggai Street in the Muslim Quarter in Jerusalem.

Police at the time said the teenage terrorist stabbed two Jewish youths before fleeing, with police forces giving chase. He then stabbed one of the policemen before he was shot.

The victims suffered light-to-moderate wounds.

Security forces at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City after a stabbing attack in which three people were injured and the assailant was shot dead by police, on April 1, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) — Security forces at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City after a stabbing attack in which three people were injured and the assailant was shot dead by police, on April 1, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A video filmed by a bystander showed the immediate aftermath of the stabbing.

פיגוע דקירה בירושלים: שלושה נפגעו, המחבלת נורתה. בתיעוד: זירת האירוע ברחוב שער הגיא. @Yossi_eli מדווח >> https://t.co/JqTUL0qQd3 pic.twitter.com/b1LjhPTudv

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) April 1, 2017

Shortly before carrying out the attack Jazal photographed himself smiling outside the Temple Mount’s Dome of the Rock. The photos were shared by Palestinians on social media, with some praising the “martyr” for his actions.

الشهيد أحمد غزال يأخذ صورة "سيلفي"مع قبة الصخرة قبل تنفيذه عملية الطعن في شارع الواد بالبلدة القديمة، عصر اليوم. pic.twitter.com/PI7LFJtMso

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) April 1, 2017

Israeli authorities have stuggled with the issue of returning bodies of Palestinian terrorists who kill or wound Israelis, with the government at one point during the wave of attacks that began in October 2015 issuing a freeze on the practice.

Israeli officials argue that the funerals of slain Palestinian attackers or suspected attackers often turn into mass rallies in support of Palestinian terrorism, and say they withhold the bodies until relatives agree to hold sparsely attended burials that don’t include calls for further attacks.