Nine months after a murderous terror attack in the central Israeli city of Elad, security guard Shimon Matuf, a 75-year-old man from Barkat was pronounced dead from his wounds. The terrorists, who were equipped with axes, attacked Matuf who previously worked as an armed security guard at the Independence Day event that took place in a park near the attack. Matuf was the father of six, and the grandfather of 13 grandchildren.
After the attack, an eyewitness said that the two terrorists "were with axes. A security guard, Matuf, managed to fire one shot and then was struck with an ax in the head, while (the attacker was) shouting 'Allah Akbar'." This morning, as mentioned, Matuf was pronounced dead at Sheba Hospital in Ramat Gan.
Gaza celebrates the terrorist attack in which 3 people were murdered in Elad, Israel.
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) May 5, 2022
What a sick radical ideology. They celebrate death and terror. pic.twitter.com/5v1V6Wlgx6
Aviva Hillel, Matuf's daughter, said that "he was hospitalized since the attack, moving from hospital to hospital. He had an infection. He went through months of agony. The terrorists hit him with axes in the head and jaw and he has not recovered since then."
The terrorist attack in Elad was carried out by the terrorists Asad Al-Rifa'i and Subhi Abu Shakir, who was captured after more than 60 hours of hiding in the Nachshonim forest between Elad and Rosh Ha'Ain. They arrived in Elad after purchasing axes and knives in Ramallah, cut through the border fence with Israel, and arrived to Elad using an Israeli taxi. In addition to Matuf, taxi driver Oren Ben Yiftach, who drove the terrorists to the scene of the attack without knowing their intentions, Yonatan Habakkuk and Boaz Guli were killed in the attack. Three others were seriously injured.
Shimon Matuf, 75, a security guard wounded in the deadly axe terror attack in Elad last May succumed to his wounds last night, bringing the toll of the attack to 4. pic.twitter.com/F9u3zus0h1
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 2, 2023
According to the indictment, the two, residents of the Romana village in Judea and Samaria, did not have a permit to enter Israel and for about six months worked illegally in the town of Elad. In August 2021, against the background of the death of his friend in clashes with the IDF, Abu-Shakir decided to carry out a terrorist attack in Israel and die as a "shahid” in the process. He turned to Al-Rifa'i, who initially refused but after becoming convinced that Muslim worshipers were being harmed at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Al-Rifa'i decided to join his friend and carry out an attack in Israel.
The indictment described that the two "planned to murder Israeli-Jewish citizens wherever they are, out of a nationalist-ideological motive." In order to purchase weapons for the attack, the two raised 11,000 NIS during the month of April. One of the terrorists even approached his relative in order to provide him with improvised weapons, but he refused, so the two decided to carry out the attack with knives and axes.
