Peaceful? Fatah rally (file)
Peaceful? Fatah rally (file)Flash90

The Palestinian Arab terrorist responsible for shooting at IDF soldiers at the Tapuah junction in Samaria is also a Fatah member, Ma'an reveals Tuesday - confirming suspicions that the unity pact between Fatah and Hamas will lead to a dramatic upswing in terror attacks against Israelis. 

Alaa Mohammed Awad Odeh, 31, shot at IDF soldiers late Monday night at the Tapuah junction near Ariel, in the second terror attack at the site in one week. IDF soldiers and Border Police immediately shot and killed Odeh; one soldier was lightly wounded and treated at the scene by army medics. 

On Tuesday, Odeh's family rejected Israel's reports that he was armed and dangerous, and told Ma'an that his family home in the nearby Arab occupied settlement of Awarta was raided after the attack. 

Monday night’s attack comes just three days after security forces apprehended an Arab terrorist wearing a bomb belt at the same location.

The terrorist raised suspicions by wearing a coatin the hot summer weather. After security forces called on him to take off his coat and be checked, the man refused and proceeded to lay on the floor.

When he finally removed his coat, he was found to be wearing a belt of explosives. A bomb disposal squad was called to the area to dismantle the explosives.

Both attacks follow the last stages of the establishment of Hamas and Fatah's "unity" government, which was sworn in on Monday morning.

While the European Union and the US have both insisted that the government - which they claim will be controlled by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - is committed to peace, Monday's attack demonstrates that a Fatah membership does not preclude a proclivity to terror attacks. 

Even before the unity pact, Israel released its annual "Palestinian Incitement Index" earlier this year showing that incitement against Israel and the Jewish people is continuing on official media channels including - inter alia - by bodies that are very close to the PA Chairman and in educational and religious networks.

Such incitement ranges from the glorification of Nazism and the lionization of Adolf Hitler, to programs on official PA television featuring heavily-stereotyped Jews as villains (and encouraging violence against them), and various TV and radio shows which literally wipe the Jewish state off the map.