Photo Credit: Gershon Elinson/Flash90
IDF forces at the scene of a terror attack near Elazar, Gush Etzion, March 21, 2024.

UPDATE: Details are still unclear after a reserve soldier shot and killed an Arab man outside the community of Elazar on Thursday morning in Gush Etzion, a few minutes south of Jerusalem.

According to Hatzalah without Borders, the Arab man, who had exited a Palestinian Authority taxi at the Elazar bus stop, kept telling the soldiers he was Jewish, but at the same time was not cooperating with the soldiers and refused to stop and follow instructions.

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A small knife was found in his bag. An initial investigation indicates the soldiers acted properly when they opened fire, due to the man’s suspicious behavior, but the soldier who fired will be questioned under caution by Military Police.

The Arab man converted to Judaism in 2020, and he was actually Jewish. Hakol Hayehudi reporter Elchanan Groner reports that the man, identified as David Ben Avraham, formerly Sameh Muhammad Abd al-Rai Zaytoun, was from Hebron, had a history of complicated interactions with soldiers in Hebron.

His grandfather reportedly saved Jews in the 1929 Hebron massacre, which was his inspiration to convert to Judaism.


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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.