Tried to stab a soldier - and was eliminated: End of the hunt for the wanted inciter whose son murdered three in Tel Aviv
In 2022, Raad Hazem murdered Tomer Morad, Eytam Magini, and Barak Lufan at a bar on Dizengoff Street. His father, Fathi, became a symbol of incitement against Israel and went underground in the Jenin refugee camp. Tonight, during a paratrooper operation, he attempted to stab a soldier and was eliminated. There were no casualties among IDF forces.
The IDF Spokesperson announced that tonight, a terrorist armed with a knife attempted to stab IDF soldiers operating in Jenin and was eliminated by gunfire. There were no casualties among the forces.
A security source confirmed that the terrorist was Fathi Hazem, the father of the terrorist who carried out the 2022 attack on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv. Since that attack, Hazem had been a wanted man, actively inciting against Israel while hiding in the Jenin refugee camp.
The operation was conducted by the 890th Paratrooper Battalion to apprehend individuals involved in planning terror plots. Upon entering one of the locations, Hazem attempted to stab a soldier with force; the soldier responded immediately with gunfire, neutralizing him.
Hazem became known to the public following the attack by his son, Raad, which claimed the lives of Tomer Morad, Eytam Magini, and Barak Lufan. A former senior officer in the Palestinian security apparatus, Hazem began publicly inciting against Israel shortly after his son's death. His speech from his balcony, in which he vowed to "cleanse the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the occupiers," went viral.
Following that speech, Hazem and his other son went underground under the protection of gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp. During his career, he held a rank equivalent to an IDF brigade commander but was known for his unstable character and extremist views. After the Dizengoff attack, he sought to exploit his status as the "father of a martyr" to bolster his influence and secure funding from Palestinian factions.
While the IDF and security services had attempted to capture Hazem, he was not classified as a "ticking bomb," leading security officials to prioritize the arrest of active terror operatives. The operational complexity of apprehending him within the refugee camp, surrounded by gunmen, required waiting for an opportune moment. It appears that moment occurred tonight.
