Palestinians walk at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City May 21, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
i24 News – The DNA of Muhammad al-Asibi, who was shot dead by police in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday evening, was found on the gun he allegedly stole from an officer before firing at Israeli security forces, who then opened fire.
Some speculated that al-Asibi, a medical student from southern Israel, reacted to the rough treatment of a veiled Palestinian woman by Israeli guards and that it could not be determined whether he intended to carry out an armed assault. Israeli police said there wasn’t a woman involved.
In the absence of security camera footage showing the incident, Arab authorities and family members said al-Asibi was not a terrorist and never stole a weapon from the policeman. Israel’s police said “following a review by the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the DNA of the terrorist who carried out the shooting attack… was found on the police weapon, which the terrorist stole from the policeman and with which he shot at the policewoman.”
Police told i24NEWS that al-Asibi “had cut off his social media networks just before the incident and threw away his smartphone and bought a kosher phone.” Additionally, there is no video footage of the incident because, at the time, the Temple Mount was closed so surveillance cameras were only filming outside the holy compound.
Moreover, at the time of the incident, the policeman’s go-pro camera was not turned on because the suspect was not considered dangerous. The policeman told the suspect that the Temple Mount was closed and to come back at a later time, but al-Asidi jumped on him before he could have time to activate his body camera.
“Since the shooting,” police noted, “many have been spreading false versions of the case (in the media), and deny that it was an attempted attack in which a terrorist nearly killed police officers who were defending their lives in the face of real danger.”
“This finding adds to the testimony of the police officers and to other evidence, which proves unequivocally that this was a kidnapping of a weapon and a shooting, just as we have reported on the night of the attack. Many of those who published lies regarding the incident should today apologize to the police officers who acted bravely in neutralizing the terrorist,” a police statement said.
The Arab sector declared a general strike on Sunday in protest against al-Asidi’s death.
The post DNA of Israeli Arab Killed in Jerusalem Found on Policeman’s Gun first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
