The “tractor terrorist” who was shot dead by IDF soldiers at an army base Thursday night tried to run over a soldier, an IDF spokeswoman told The Jewish Press.
The driver “tried to run over the soldier several times,” chasing after him as he fled and smashing into several vehicles until soldiers nearby emptied an entire magazine of bullets, killing the driver almost immediately. A concrete block, put there to protect the soldiers is what prevented them from being run over.
The spokeswoman could not confirm or deny reports that the driver was unarmed, but when asked if the army was certain the driver was a terrorist, she replied in the affirmative and stated that he tried to murder at least one soldier.The military is investigating the incident.
The terrorist was identified as Younis al-Obaidi Radaydeh from the Ramallah area village of Beit Hanina. He had arrived at the Rama base near Ramallah around 7:15 p.m. (12:15 p.m. EDT), and the soldier at the gate asked him for his identification papers. While he was examining them, the tractor terrorist smashed through the gate and aimed at a soldier who was standing nearby. Radaydeh managed to drive 150 meters into the base.
The gate fell on the soldier who had been examining documents, causing him light injuries. He was treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization.
While Palestinian Authority sources said that the parents of the driver had received a notice from Israeli authorities that their house was scheduled to be demolished, there is no confirmation of that claim.
Voice of Israel radio reported that the terrorist’s brother also was a tractor terrorist, Marei Radaydeh, who was killed while trying to run over cars, including a police car, in Jerusalem in 2009.
In 2008 and 2009, Arabs used tractors in terror attacks inside Jerusalem, killing three Jews and wounding several others.