The terrorists Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, 29, Muhammad Hamed Abed al-Atif Jabarin, 19, and Muhammad Ahmad Mafdel Jabarin, 19, murdered officer Ha’il Satawi and officer Kamil Shnaan at the Temple Mount compound on July 14, 2017.
A collaborator brought the weapons—two Carl Gustav weapons, a pistol and knives—into the Al-Aqsa Mosque for them. On the day of the attack, they came from the direction of the Lions’ Gate and shot dead the two policemen, who had their backs to them. Forces in the area shot and killed the terrorists.
The Shin Bet investigation revealed the terror cell was formed at the Al-Malsa Mosque in Umm al-Fahm, where one of the terrorists, Mohammed Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, worked as a caretaker and muezzin. The mosque, which is affiliated with the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement, is also where the terrorists hid the weapons before the attack.
The indictment describes the three terrorists’ preparations for the attack and their meeting during Ramadan to choose their target. Amjad Jabarin was then shown the weapons and ammo later used in the attack, which they hid in the mosque.
Starting late June, Jabarin drove the terrorists to target practices and Al-Aqsa itself, where they surveyed the area in anticipation of their attack—originally planned for July 14 but aborted in the last minute.
On the day of the attack, the weapons were brought into the mosque. The three debated whether Muhammad Ahmad Mafdel Jabarin should join them, eventually deciding in the affirmative. Amjad was offered to join as well, but declined.
They then hid the weapons on their person, as well as magazines and bullets in their socks and pockets, and left the mosque for Jerusalem.
Amjad then transported the three and the weaponry to the pick-up point in the Al-Batan neighborhood of Umm al-Fahm where they boarded a shuttle to Al-Aqsa.
The bus left the meeting point at 1:30 pm heading towards Jerusalem with the armed terrorists onboard. It reached the city at 3 pm, at which point the three disembarked and entered the Temple Mount complex with their weapons in tow.
After prayer concluded at 4 pm, the three told a passenger they had arrived with they planned to stay at Al-Aqsa for the Friday prayer. They received their weapons from another accomplice and near 7:10 pm, on the Temple Mount’s northern grounds, the three carried out their attack, shooting a large number of bullets towards cops stationed there. Two officers were killed—Kamil Shnaan and Ha’il Satawi—and two others injured.
The terrorists entrusted the accomplice Jabarin with their cellphones, messages to their families and the keys to the mosque, which he hid following the attack. One of the terrorists also gave him NIS 500, telling Jabarin he would no longer need money, while another gave him his car keys asking Amjad to give them to the former’s father. Jabarin later deleted their contact details from his phone to obscure the fact he knew them.
Several days after the attack, when he was in the mourners’ home of Hamed Jabarin’s family, he conspired with Sliman Jabarin—Muhammad Jabarin’s friend—to remove the mosque’s DVR housing its security cameras to eliminate evidence of his collusion with the three terrorists.
The Shin Bet’s investigation also found the terrorists had ties to the Islamic Movement. Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin was also active in the Mourabitoun, an outlawed Islamist movement operating on the Temple Mount that has ties to both the Islamic Movement and terror organization Hamas.
Originally posted on ynetnews.com.
