Israeli officials work at the scene of an attempted knife attack that police say was carried out by a Canadian citizen, at Netiv Ha’Asara, Israel, on July 22.Amir Cohen/Reuters
A Canadian citizen reportedly has been killed by Israeli troops in southern Israel after brandishing a knife at them.
Footage from the scene showed a man in a white T-shirt and khaki trousers lying dead in front of a white car with Israeli licence plates outside the gates of Netiv Ha’Asara, a village just outside the northern edge of the Gaza Strip. Twenty residents of Netiv Ha’Asara were killed by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
Security camera footage showed the man rushing at three armed Israeli security officers before he was shot dead. Though the video had no sound, Israeli media reported that the man yelled “Free Palestine” and “You’re killing civilians in Gaza!” before he was shot.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the man – identified as a “Canadian Muslim citizen” – arrived in the country as a tourist on Sunday. The Israeli military, in a statement, said, “A terrorist arrived at the gate of Netiv Ha’Asara, got out of his vehicle and threatened the soldiers of the Netiv Ha’Asara’s standby squad with a knife. The fighters responded by firing and neutralized the terrorist, there were no casualties to our forces.”
Canada’s consular officials in Israel are gathering information on the episode, a spokeswoman said.
“Global Affairs Canada is aware of an incident involving a Canadian citizen in Israel,” wrote Charlotte MacLeod. “Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed at this time.”
Israeli police told The Associated Press the man was Canadian, though the Israeli military would not confirm the nationality, instead saying that “the suspect is a foreign national who arrived in the area from within Israeli territory, and not from the Gaza Strip.”
In a statement, the Israeli military said there were no other injuries, providing a photo of a kitchen knife with a black handle. The rescue service Zaka also said nobody was injured. Israel’s ambassador to Canada posted the military’s statement on X.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster identified the man as Qawarshi Zakaria Adam and posted the photograph on X of the black-handled kitchen knife that the dead man was allegedly wielding.
Canadian universities have seen months of protests demanding an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, which it launched in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says almost 39,000 Palestinians have died in the subsequent 290 days of war. That figure, like the Israeli death toll, does not differentiate between fighters and civilians.
The fighting has reduced much of Gaza – home to more than 2.2 million people – to uninhabitable rubble.
With reports from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press