A young Israeli Jewish woman dressed in all-black clothing was shot and killed by IDF troops at the Metsudat Yehuda checkpoint in the South Hebron Hills area on Tuesday after pulling out a gun and shouting "Allahu Akbar," the Defense Ministry said.
The woman, initially reported as a terrorist, approached the crossing from the direction of the Israeli Beit Yatir settlement.
At some point, she pulled out a weapon and ran at the crossing while shouting "Allahu Akbar" before being killed.
Was this an attempted suicide by a former IDF soldier?
According to a report from N12's Yair Cherki, the woman had previously discussed doing exactly this with a friend of hers.
טרגדיה איומה שאפשר היה למנוע: הצעירה שנורתה הערב במחסום מצדות יהודה היא חיילת משוחררת שהתחפשה למחבלת כדי להתאבד. היא התייעצה עם חבר שדיווח על כך למוקד 100 והעביר את הפרטים וההתכתבות הזאת למשטרה כשעה לפני האירוע. הידיעה לא הגיעה למחסום והחיילים היו משוכנעים שהם מנטרלים מחבלת pic.twitter.com/uTWeIIp4xC
— יאיר שרקי (@yaircherki) May 9, 2023
The woman, a former IDF soldier, had asked her friend if someone who wanted to die could do so if they were a Jewish Israeli wearing Arab-style clothing and wielding an airsoft gun running towards a checkpoint in the West Bank while shouting "Allahu Akbar." She further asked that if someone were to do this and survive, such as if they were shot just in the legs, would they spend time in prison and if so, for how long and on what charge?
Her friend responded "Wow. That's a hard question. Is the 'someone' in question you?"
"Maybe," the woman said with a shrug emoji. "We'll never know."
Later, Cherki said that the woman also told her friend that "If you hear about 'someone' in the news [dying], tell them I want a Jewish burial."
The incident comes amid the backdrop of renewed rounds of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians following the start of Operation Shield and Arrow.
This is a developing story.