In unverified ‘will,’ Ma’ale Adumim attacker claims no affiliations with Palestinian factions

Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel

In an unverified recording circulating on Palestinian social media and attributed to Mohannad Muhammad Suleiman al-Mazra’a, the perpetrator of today’s terror attack in Ma’ale Adumim, the speaker claims to not be affiliated with any faction.

Al-Mazra’a, from the nearby West Bank town of al-Azariya, allegedly recorded his “will” as a 95-second voice note before committing the shooting attack, in which six Israelis were wounded.

In the audio file, whose origin could not be independently verified, the man quotes several Quranic verses and hadiths (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), saying that if he dies “in the name of Allah” and the Israelis take his body, “it won’t matter.” He demanded that when he is buried, no funeral be held for him and no name be engraved on his tombstone.

The Gaza-ruling terror group Hamas issued a press statement shortly after the terror attack, congratulating al-Mazra’a and calling the shooting “heroic and daring. ”

In a separate statement, Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, claims that the shooting was in response to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s latest visit to Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av last Thursday.

“The protectors of Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa always have their finger on the trigger, and will not miss an opportunity to pounce on the enemy,” Mardawi says.

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