Attack type Stabbing Non-fatal injuries 1 (perpetrator) | Deaths 1 Israeli soldier Date 10 February 2010 | |
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Perpetrator Palestinian Authority police officer Muhammad Hatib Location West Bank, State of Palestine | ||
The Tapuah Junction stabbing occurred on 10 February 2010 in the West Bank when Palestinian Authority police officer Muhammad Hatib stabbed Druze Israeli soldier Ihab Khatib to death as the latter was sitting in a jeep at a traffic light.
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The attack
Ihab Khatib, a Druze Israeli policeman, was on his way from Jenin to a military outpost near Tapuah Junction, and was sitting alone in his jeep with the window open, waiting at a traffic light. Hatib, wearing civilian clothes, approached, pulled out a knife, reached through the window and thrust the knife into Khatib, who tried to escape by pressing down on the gas pedal, but his jeep flipped over on the side of the road when he lost consciousness. He died en route to the hospital and was buried the following day in his home village. Meanwhile, Hatib tried to flee by car, but Yossi Margalit, a security officer for the Rechelim settlement who was nearby, rammed his own car into him, causing light wounds. Hatib was arrested by Israeli soldiers and given medical attention. He was then transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning.
The victim
St.-Sgt. Maj. Ihab Khatib (28) was a Druze Arab non-commissioned officer from the mainly Druze village of Maghar in the Galilee. He served as a logistics officer in the Kfir Brigade. He was survived by his parents and five siblings. His uncle had been killed in action while serving in the Israel Defense Forces during the 2006 Lebanon War, and his aunt had been killed when a Katyusha rocket fired by Lebanese militant group Hizbullah hit her house.
The perpetrator
Muhammad Hatib (34) was a long-serving Palestinian police officer, and at the time of the incident was the head of bureau for the Palestinian Authority's chief of Police in Ramallah. Israeli Brigadier General Nitzan Alon, who had had contact with the killer shortly after the incident, reported that Hatib had "said he was tired of living" and that the subsequent investigation failed to reveal any signs of "organisational affiliation or of clear ideological reasons", linking the act to militant groups or a larger plot. Media reports suggested "this was an indication Mr. Khatib [sic] may have hoped he would be killed as he carried out the alleged attack." Military sources also reported that Hatib appeared to be pursuing a military target, "since he waited on the side of the road when he could have attacked Israelis at a nearby hitchhiking post."
Response
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad denounced the attack, stating that it "conflicts with our national interests", and pledged to take steps to prevent such incidents in the future. However, an Israeli government source said that while the Palestinian Authority had made marked improvements in its security apparatus, it was more hesitant in dealing with extremists in its own movement.
The attack came amid an increase in Palestinian attempted terror attacks and Israeli settler attacks. According to IDF Samaria Brigade commander Col. Itzhik Bar. "Since the beginning of 2010, IDF troops have prevented 20 stabbing attacks and uncovered 12 bombs", he said. Simultaneously, in the preceding months, radical Israeli settlers launched attacks on their Palestinian neighbors, including setting vehicles, homes, and a mosque on fire. The shooting was cited in newspaper editorials demanding greater security for Israelis in the West Bank.