Israeli army arrests sister of terrorist who stabbed to death 13-year-old
Michael Mark, who was killed in separate attack a day later, laid to rest with thousands attending funeral
Israeli security forces Sunday morning detained six Palestinians in the greater Hebron area, including the sister of the teenage terrorist who stabbed to death a 13-year-old Israeli girl in the settlement of Kiryat Arba on Thursday.
Prior to the attack, Mohammed Tarayrah, 19, had praised other terrorists on social media, and posted that he too wished to die a "martyr's death" before murdering Hallel Yaffa Ariel as she slept in her bed in her family home.
He was subsequently shot and killed by an armed guard after injuring a second guard who responded to Ariel’s screams.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the arrest of Lara Tarayrah was part of its crackdown on incitement and support for terrorism.
A short video published on Palestinian media Thursday showed a sister of Tarayrah referring to her brother as a “martyr.”
“My brother is now a martyr. May God judge the Jews, and may my brother be content with his portion in paradise,” she said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the sister seen in the video is the same who was arrested Sunday.
Also on Thursday, two Israelis were wounded in a stabbing attack at a market in the coastal Israeli city of Netanya.
A man around 40 was moderately wounded and a woman of about 30 sustained light injuries.
The attacker was shot and killed by a civilian at the scene. Police called the incident a terror attack and say that the stabber was from the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Just a day later, an Israeli man was killed and three close relatives were wounded when a Palestinian terrorist fired on their car south of Hebron.
He was identified as Michael Mark, 48, from the nearby Otniel settlement. His wife, Hava Mark was still hospitalized Sunday morning and remained in an induced coma due to her head injuries.
The couple's 14-year-old daughter was moderately injured in the attack, while their 15-year-old son sustained light injuries.
Mark's family on Sunday called on the public to pay their respects at his funeral, which took place at 08:00 GMT that same day.
“He wasn’t just our father, he was a father to so many people,” one of Rabbi Miki Mark’s daughters said in a video eulogy in which she exhorted people to turn out.
“Everyone will hear something good about what dad was,” another daughter said, “and take that good and be better people.”
Mark was laid to rest at the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in Jerusalem.
According to Ynet, thousands of people headed his family's call, including Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Knesset Members Yehuda Glick and Shuli Muallem, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, who was Mark's cousin.