The three who were portrayed by Palestinian Authority as innocent young ‘martyrs’ were, in fact, terrorists trying to ambush Israeli soldiers.
By Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch
Last week, three “commanders” who were part of “a fighting squad” of the independent terror cell The Lion’s Den from Nablus were killed while attacking Israeli soldiers.
In the Palestinian Authority (PA) narrative, they were described as three innocent young “martyrs” who were “shot at” and “assassinated” by Israeli forces while “driving in their car.”
According to the PA, “eyewitnesses reported that the occupation authorities hurried to hide the traces of their new crime… and confiscated the security cameras at the site to hide the traces of the crime and the way it was committed.”
However, in a press release, The Lion’s Den explained in detail that the three “heroes” died “in confrontation” while trying to ambush Israeli soldiers:
“O masses of our heroic people, following a precise monitoring of the Zionist Golani unit at the occupation’s Sarra checkpoint, one of our fighting squads set out to lay an ambush for this unit and confront it. After it became clear that the soldiers of this unit were laying an ambush for the fighters of our squad, the squad’s heroes decided to sneak in to bring down the soldiers of this unit in a larger ambush. As Supreme Allah would have it a confrontation broke out from point blank range before our fighters deployed in the area, and they ascended to Heaven as Martyrs while advancing forward and not retreating…” [Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, March 12, 2023]
In order that there would be no doubt who the three “Jihad fighters” were, The Lion’s Den revealed the names of the “heroes” as Jihad Al-Shami, Uday Al-Shami and Muhammad Al-Dabeek.
Moreover, the terror cell threatened Israel with more terror, addressing “the Zionist enemy”:
“We reemphasize to you that The Lion’s Den is seeking you everywhere and at all times. You will find us in the utter darkness and in the light of day. You will find our lions under the rocks and behind the trees. We will burst forth at you from the rocks and we will land on you from the skies… the series of revenge operations continues, and you currently have nothing to do but prepare for a new wave of operations, which our lone wolves will sign off on.” [Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, March 12, 2023]
Palestinian Media Watch has exposed the popularity of the members of The Lion’s Den terror cell. Palestinian children wear necklaces with pictures of the terrorists who die “as Martyrs” in confrontations with Israel.
Despite The Lion’s Den’s blatant public bragging about its terrorists who died as “heroes” while “confronting” Israeli soldiers, and the cell’s plans for future terror attacks, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh stayed true to the PA narrative and “condemned the crime that the occupation committed in Nablus… in which 3 young people died as a Martyrs.” Shtayyeh also “prayed to lauded Allah that He will wrap them in His great mercies and have them dwell in the expanses of Paradise.”
Chairman of the Palestinian National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) Rawhi Fattouh, in the official PA daily, accused Israel of deliberately “murder[ing] civilians in cold blood, while using false excuses and empty claims to justify the daily crimes of summary executions.”