Israeli Police Release Footage of Shootout Between ‘Heroic’ Officers, Palestinian Terrorist
Screenshot from body cam footage showing an exchange of fire between two Israeli officers and a Palestinian terrorist who killed five people in Bnei Brak on March 29, 2022. Photo: Israel Police/Screenshot
Israeli police on Wednesday released body camera footage showing the exchange of fire between two “heroic” officers and a Palestinian gunman who murdered five people the previous evening.
The body camera footage shows the two officers as they rode fast on a motorcycle through the streets of Bnei Brak, a central city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, while speaking to the police communication network to get updates on the gunman’s location.
As they got close to the Palestinian attacker, one of the two officers said to his colleague, “careful Khoury.” Immediately afterwards, a gunshot was heard as officer Amir Khoury was hit by the assailant.
The other officer, whose name was not made public, then fired dozens of shots at the terrorist, later identified as 27-year-old Diaa Hamarsheh from a village in the West Bank. As Hamarsheh, who killed five people, was seen on the ground, the unnamed officer took away his gun and shouted, “Quiet, quiet. He’s dead.”
“He’s down, he’s down, search the area,” the officer continued.
Khoury, a 32-year-old Arab Christian from the northern Israeli town Nof Hagalil, was seriously injured during the exchange and rushed to a local hospital, where he later succumbed to his wounds. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised the officer for sacrificing himself heroically for the sake of others.
Khoury served in the Bnei Brak police station’s motorcyclist responders team, and left behind parents, a brother, and two sisters.
Speaking to local media in heartbreaking tears, Khoury’s girlfriend for the past seven years said: “He was a hero, a fighter, the bravest man in the world, he had no fear, he always jumped into the fire.”
“Two days ago he told me that if he saw a terrorist he would kill him and I begged him not to get hurt. He promised me that nothing would happen to him,” she added.
Khoury’s father recounted that “the police were his life, he would come first to any incident. He received honors several times. He has a girlfriend for several years he wanted to marry.”