“I went out with a meat cleaver, I wanted to kill a settler.” In his interrogation, 31-year-old Ahmed Kahla described how he arrived at a Jewish farm in Samaria with a knife and lighter, intending to set fire to a tent and murder one of its residents.
By Hezy Laing
Ahmed Kahla, from the Arab village of Ramon, arrived near Hanina Farm on October 5 carrying a meat cleaver taken from his home and a gas lighter, according to a joint investigation by the Judea and Samaria District Central Unit and the Shin Bet.
Investigators say he planned to burn a tent belonging to Jewish residents and stab anyone he met.
“My goal was to go out and set fire to the tent and also to stab a settler and kill him,” Kahla told investigators. Portions of his interrogation were released following the filing of a prosecutor’s declaration against him.
Messages that preceded the attack
According to the investigation, events began early that morning in a WhatsApp group in Kahla’s village, where messages circulated claiming that Palestinian olive harvesters were being attacked by Jewish residents.
The messages called on local residents to head to the olive groves and defend the harvesters. Kahla told investigators that he responded by heading toward Hanina Farm with the intention of attacking Jewish residents.
He brought a kitchen knife from his home, reportedly with a blade approximately 10 centimeters long, along with a gas lighter.
Residents stop the attack
Kahla managed to set fire to a vehicle parked near a tent before residents of Hanina Farm noticed him, according to the investigation.
They confronted and neutralized him before he could reach anyone with his knife, stopping the planned stabbing.
Kahla was lightly wounded during the confrontation, evacuated to a hospital, and subsequently arrested.
The residents’ intervention prevented the incident from escalating into the murder Kahla had described in his interrogation.
The wider problem of incitement
The investigation also highlights the dangers of inflammatory messaging during an already tense period in Judea and Samaria.
Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that anti-Israel incitement across Palestinian media and social media can encourage attacks against Jewish communities. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad regularly glorify violence against Israelis, portraying attackers as heroes and encouraging further attacks.
The Palestinian Authority’s prisoner and martyr payment system has also drawn criticism from Israel and the United States, due to the hundreds of millions of dollars it has paid to families of convicted terrorists, that act as a reward system.
During the olive harvest, disputes over agricultural land and access to groves can become flashpoints. Messages and videos circulated through local WhatsApp groups can rapidly mobilize residents and intensify confrontations.
Facing serious charges
Kahla remains in custody following the filing of a prosecutor’s declaration. Prosecutors are expected to charge him with attempted murder and planning military activity.
The investigation has revealed a disturbing sequence of events: inflammatory messages in a village WhatsApp group, a journey to a Jewish farm carrying a knife and lighter, and an attempted arson followed by an intervention that prevented a potentially deadly stabbing.
