On Thursday night, a Palestinian terrorist went on a murderous rampage, killing three young Jewish men and seriously wounding nine others. This marked the fourth deadly attack in one month, bringing the horrific death toll to fourteen Israelis. Shockingly, some Arab leaders came out in support of the attack.

Samir Saadi, the deputy mayor of Nazareth, posted condolences on social media to the family of the terrorist who was killed by the IDF in a shootout in Jenin on Saturday.  The terrorist’s M-16 automatic weapon was retrieved after the incident.

Ahmed Al-Saadi had a photo of himself in his magazine today during the gunfire exchange with the #IDF. Pictures on social media show he had this previously also, potentially a way of identifying himself and his gun. https://t.co/6lD05WQZQ5 pic.twitter.com/dr1u9NiAmY

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) April 9, 2022

“Allah would welcome him among the martyrs and the righteous,” Saadi wrote on Facebook, according to a translation by Haaretz. The Kan public broadcaster reported that the deputy mayor and the terrorist who fired on IDF troops in Jenin were related. In his post, the deputy mayor addressed the “cousins in the [refugee] camp Jenin.”

The post was made directly after the incident and quickly removed after right-wing lawmakers raised criticism.

MK Ofir Sofer (Religious Zionism) responded by calling Saadi “a terror supporter who receives a salary from the State.”

“There is no place to wait for him to apologize and a media round of firing and returning. The Interior Minister must end his position, and the police must open a criminal investigation against him,” Sofer said

With a population of almost 80,000, Nazareth is the largest city in northern Israel and is the largest Arab city in Israel. In the New Testament, the town is described as the childhood home of Jesus and is a pilgrimage site. Nazareth has had a Christian majority for most of history, but currently, about 70% of the population is Muslim, and 30% is Christian. Last May, as Gaza fired rockets at Israel, anti-Israel riots broke out in Nazareth. 

The IDF was carrying out an operation in Jenin to arrest the father of the Tel Aviv terrorist, a resident of Jenin and a former security prisoner. They previously served as an officer in the Palestinian Authority’s security services. He has refused an Israeli request to be questioned. The IDF suspects the terrorist’s relatives of aiding him in preparing for the attack.

The house was also mapped out for demolition.

In the wake of the attack in Tel Aviv,  Palestinian men were seen handing out candy and other sweets in Palestinian-controlled areas to celebrate the attacks on Israelis.

On Friday, the father praised his son’s actions to a crowd gathered in front of the family home. “Your eyes will see the victory soon. You will see the change. You will achieve your freedom… According to footage, God, liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the desecration of the occupiers,” he said.

Officials from the Prime Minister’s Office have reportedly asked the US to pressure the Palestinian Authority and its leader Mahmoud Abbas to cut payments to the father of the terrorist. 

The terrorist who carried out the Tel Aviv attack set out from a mosque in Jaffa and was found by security forces after a manhunt on his way to return to the mosque. After raising his hands in surrender, the terrorist reportedly then drew a gun and opened fire on the officers, who fired back and killed him.

On Friday, WAFA News published a response from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who expressed his condemnation of the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians in what he described as a “shooting operation.” It should be noted that the terrorist was the only Palestinian killed in the event. Abbas emphasized that the killing of Palestinians and Israelis only leads to a “further deterioration of the situation.”

“We all aim to achieve stability, especially during the holy month of Ramadan and the upcoming Christian and Jewish holidays,” Abbas said, warning against “the danger of the continuation of the repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the provocative actions of extremist settlers everywhere.” He warned against using the “incident” to justify “carrying out attack and reactions against our Palestinian people by settlers.”

The mayor of Jenin,  Akram Rajoub, slammed the Israeli government for imposing restrictions in the wake of the attack. Rajoub claimed the restrictions would only lead to more violence. 

“When you punish all of Jenin, prevent commerce and workers, you push people into a corner. Expect him to do anything,” Rajoub told The Times of Israel.

Rajoub also was seen at the mourners’ tent set up for the Tel Aviv terrorist. Rajoub told public broadcaster Kan that he does not consider the killer a terrorist. 

When asked directly, he responded, “No, I don’t see him as a terrorist.”

“Palestinians are not terrorists,” Rajoub said. “Palestinians want to free themselves from occupation.”

“There’s no political horizon, no economic horizon, and no hope to end the occupation. So what do you expect from the Palestinian people?” he added.

“You have pushed the Palestinian people into a corner. The Palestinian people…see murder [and] blood, and see all the criminal events…by the IDF. What is it that you want? For them to give them [soldiers] a rose, for example?” he said.

This is the fourth attack in the past few weeks, resulting in fourteen killed. The terrorists who carried out the attack in Bnei Brak that killed four were also from Jenin. The wave of violence coincides with the Muslim month of Ramadan. Intended as the Muslim month of ‘piety,’ Ramadan has become a period of increased Islamic violence in recent years.

This article was written by Eliyahu Berkowitz, the lead Geulah writer for Israel365 News, who has written over 4,000 articles about prophecy and Israel. His recent book has been published with Root Source and can be pre-ordered here. He has also authored the novel ‘The Hope Merchant’ and a collection of short stories titled ‘Dolphins on the Moon’