Maariv – Adapted

We shall never know what occurred at midnight between Friday and Saturday at Bab Al-Silsilah, one of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa's entrances. The outcome is known: Mohammad Al-Osaibi, 26, from the Negev town of Hura, was shot by the Israeli occupation police. According to the authorities, Al-Osaibi arrived at Al-Masjid with the intention of assaulting the police officers, seizing one of their weapons, and firing two policewomen from the border guards who were standing nearby. He, thus, was shot and killed by Israeli police. Nonetheless, the biggest issue with the Israeli police narration is that it lacks photographic evidence of the occurrence.

The Israeli police narration contradicts the accounts of Palestinian eyewitnesses, who claim that the shooting was preceded by an argument between the Israeli policemen and Al-Osaibi when the latter intervened in a discussion between them and a Palestinian girl who was sitting in the area. It is safe to believe that Al-Osaibi did not come to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa to carry out a Fedayeen Operation. Al-Osaibi does not match the features of a resistance fighter, and if he wanted to carry out a Fedayeen Operation, why would he come empty-handed?

In contrast, the Israeli police avoided using force and minimized their presence in the Bab Al-Amoud area, as they were proud of what they showed. The incident in Bab Al-Silsilah, however, dashed the Israeli police's hopes for peace, as Al-Osaibi became "the martyr of Al-Aqsa." The police attempted to prove their narration in order to calm the situation, but the question of how the Negev Bedouins will react to the incident remained unanswered.