The Nazareth woman who was shot when she was thought to be attempting to stab an Israeli guard at the Afula bus station last month has been released to house arrest, the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court announces.
A police investigation into the October 9 incident revealed that Asra’a Zidan Abed, 30, did not intend to carry out a terror attack, and would not face charges for attempted murder.
Instead, she faces minor charges of carrying a dangerous weapon.
Police and Shin Bet investigators say they believe Abed did not plan to stab anyone when she wielded the knife at the Afula station, but was pretending to be a Palestinian terrorist in the hope that she would be shot by security forces.
Earlier in the investigation police said they thought Abed may suffer from mental health issues. Suspicions were confirmed after discovering a history of suicide attempts and hospitalizations, the police said at the time. Investigators think she was trying to commit suicide, having recently lost custody of a child.
Abed will remain under house arrest pending her trial.
A video of Abed’s tense standoff with police went viral last month.
https://youtu.be/KRNrMWKtorw
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Wednesday, November 4, 2015
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