Shouts of joy were heard around the Jenin home of the Dizengoff Street terrorist on Friday morning as people celebrated joining the terrorist organizations and supporters on the streets of Palestinian towns and on social media.
"You will see the victory soon… God, liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque from the occupiers,” the terrorist's father - a former Palestinian Authority security officer - was filmed saying outside his house. The terrorist's uncle also praised his nephew on Facebook, saying that he had joined family members who had been killed in clashes with security forces.
אביו של המחבל הבוקר בג'נין: "הניצחון יגיע בקרוב, בימים הקרובין תראו את השינוי.אתם תהיו חופשיים ועצמאיים. אלוהים, שחרר את מסגד אלאקצא מידי הכיבוש!" pic.twitter.com/yHlqUwHPJo
— שחר גליק (@glick_sh) April 8, 2022
Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, called the terrorist's father in order to praise his son.
Hamas called the attack a "natural and legitimate response to the escalation of the occupation's crimes against our people, our land, Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque."
The terrorist movement added that it would "not allow" the "continuation of the occupation’s terrorism and crimes, and its attempts to Judaize Jerusalem, and to make sacrifices in the courtyards of al-Aqsa Mosque to build their alleged temple, on the so-called Passover holiday."
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement responded to the attack on Thursday saying, "the Tel Aviv operation is a clear message to the occupation that it must stop its incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque." The movement warned that further "incursions" into al-Aqsa would lead to "more resistance and ransom operations."
غزة كلها خرجت إلى الشوارع الآن احتفالاً وابتهاجاً بعملية تل أبيب pic.twitter.com/xSbNSdO9f0
— غزة الآن - Gaza Now #عاجل (@GazaNownews) April 7, 2022
Videos of celebrations in Ramallah, Jenin, Gaza and Lebanon circulated on social media. Supporters of the attack reportedly honked the horns of their cars and handed out sweets to passersby.
A reporter for the pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen Ali Mortada called the terrorist "a Palestinian hero" on Twitter. His colleague Fatima Ftouni shared a tweet about the attack's death toll with a heart emoji, and said that "the occupier is destined to leave or die."
The Thursday night attack killed three Israelis and injured another 11. The terrorist was killed in a shootout with security forces on Friday morning in Jaffa.
Anna Ahronheim and Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.