Father of Beersheba attacker says son was executed

While relatives and leaders of the Bedouin community have condemned the Beersheba terror attack, the father of the apparent attacker says his son was killed for no reason.

“Muhanad was executed in the field and anything connecting him to this thing in Beersheba we don’t know anything about. My son was executed,” Khalil Alukabi told a press conference outside his home.

Police say Muhanad Alukabi killed a soldier and injured 11 others when he opened fire in the Beersheba bus station on Sunday night. He was killed by responding security forces after holing himself up in a bathroom.

Alukabi also tells Israeli news site Maariv that his son was not violent, but seems to entertain the possibility his son may have carried out the attack.

“We don’t educate toward violence,” he says. “Despite the reports in the media, he had no connection to Islamist groups. We are praying to God. I condemn this act and I wanted to get into his soul even before the attack to understand what was going on with him. Only God knows what caused him to do this.”