Tekoa Resident Recounts Terror Attack at His Home

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – The resident of Tekoa who shot an armed terrorist attempting to infiltrate the community to carry out an attack described the harrowing experience on Monday for Radio 103 FM:

“We were sitting on the porch, on the western side of Tekoa. Suddenly, within that serene landscape, we spot a face, a person climbing the fence right in front of us,” said Yair Maimon.

“That made us jump right out of our chairs,” he said. “I shouted at him, ‘Stop, who is that?’ He mumbled something unclear and continued climbing. From that moment, we realized it was a terrorist attack.”

Yair Maimon then rushed his family inside and grabbed his M16 rifle, which he keeps in his possession as a civilian member of the local security team.

The terrorist, meanwhile, had scaled the town’s perimeter fence, which is only about nine feet from the Maimons’ home, and by the time Maimon got outside, he was outflanking him. As he turned, the terrorist came at him, brandishing a knife. Maimon pulled the trigger and the terrorist fell dead.

His wife and their 13-year-old daughter Roni, who filmed the entire incident on her phone, watched as the incident unfolded, but were unable to help.

B’chasadei shamayaim, none of the family was harmed.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the terrorist as 17-year-old Muatasem Mohammad Taleb Atallah, from Harmala, a small village adjacent to Tekoa.

Atallah was later claimed by Hamas as a member, although the terror group said it did not explicitly order him to carry out the attack.