JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority security forces reportedly attempted to prevent an attack by one of its officers on Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint.
The father of Muhammad Turkman, 25, told the Palestinian news website Quds Net that Palestinian forces raided the family home near Jenin hours before Monday afternoon’s attack at the checkpoint near the Jewish settlement of Beit El and at the entrance to Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority.
Turkman, a member of a special forces unit of the Palestinian Authority police force, opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle at soldiers at the checkpoint, injuring three. He was shot and killed by other Israeli soldiers on the scene.
An unnamed senior Palestinian security official told Israel Radio that Turkman was a guard at the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah, and used his service rifle to perpetrate the attack. He left at the end of his shift without asking permission to take his rifle.
Israeli troops raided the family home on Monday night after the attack, arresting Turkman’s 22-year-old brother and confiscating family members’ permits to work in Israel, Haaretz reported, citing the IDF.
The Palestinian Maan news agency confirmed the raid and the arrest, and quoted a PLO official as saying that dozens of young Palestinian men clashed with Israeli forces during the raid, and that forces “showered the town with tear gas and stun grenades.”
Turkman’s father, Abdul Khaleq, told Quds Net that he was proud of his son, as was the rest of the family.
Both the Fatah party of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and the terrorist Hamas organization praised Turkman for his actions, The Times of Israel reported.
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