Israeli shoots, kills terrorist during attack in family home

The victim reportedly shot and wounded the perpetrator in self defense upon realizing that he was the target of an attack.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: MARCH 2, 2017 00:05
IDF soldiers, medics at the scene of a stabbing attack in Havat Mor outside Taneh Omaim in South Hebron Hills in West Bank on March 1, 2017 (SOUTH HEBRON HILLS REGIONAL COUNCIL)
A Palestinian terrorist was killed after he infiltrated the caravan home of an Israeli family in a West Bank outpost in the South Hebron Hills.
The homeowner, Shabtai Koshobalski, opened his door Tuesday afternoon after hearing a suspicious noise outside.
Standing in the doorway was a Palestinian man armed with two knives, according to a spokesman for the South Hebron Hills Regional Council.
Koshobalski stepped back inside to get his gun from his living room and the terrorist followed him inside, the spokesman said.
The terrorist stabbed Koshobalski, lightly wounding him, an army spokeswoman said.
Koshobalski’s dog, Sophie, intervened and was able to keep the terrorist at bay for the few moments needs for the homeowner to grab his gun, the South Hebron Hills spokesman said.
At that point, Koshobalski shot and killed the terrorist, Saad Muhammad Ali Qaisiya, from the nearby village of Dhahiriya.
During the incident, Koshobalski’s wife and baby were in the home, the spokesman said, adding that Koshobalski did not want to be interviewed.
According to the spokesman, Koshobalski’s farm is located about a kilometer away from the Tene Omarim settlement, and there are only a few other single people who live there.
Earlier in the day, Koshobalski had called in an army patrol, after a Palestinian herder had brought his sheep too close to Mor Farm, the South Hebron Hills spokesman said.
The IDF asked the herder to distance himself, and Koshobalski then filed a formal complaint with the police. The spokesman said he did not know if the two incidents were connected.
The South Hebron Hills region has suffered three fatal terrorist attacks in the last few years. In January 2016, Dafna Meir, 38, a mother of six, was stabbed to death by a teenage Palestinian terrorist just inside the doorway of her home in the Otniel settlement.
In November 2015, Rabbi Yaakov Litman, 40, and his son Netanel, 18, were killed in a shooting attack as they drove on Route 60. Rabbi Michael “Miki” Mark, 48, a father of 10 and the director-general of the Otniel Yeshiva, was similarly killed in July 2016 by Palestinian gunmen, as he drove on Route 60 in the South Hebron Hills.