Axe (illustration)
Axe (illustration)Thinkstock

Saadi Ali Abu Hamad's mother says that her son may have attacked a security guard with an ax because of a previous encounter between the two, Ynet reports.

"I was extremely surprised by this incident," she said on Tuesday morning. "Saadi worked and behaved like any ordinary young person and any interest in attacks was not in his head. Maybe there were earlier problems between him and the security guard. I wish the security guard a speedy recovery and hope that there will be peace."

Hamad's father has also expressed his confidence that there was a reasonable explanation for the attack. The night that his son nearly murdered Tzvika Cohen, he said that Saadi "was supposed to come home but didn't and he didn't sleep at home that night. In fact, I haven't seen him until now. I expect to see him and understand exactly what happened."

The parents' claims align with Hamad's initial justifications. When he was first arrested, Hamad said that Cohen had "insulted" him and thus provoked the attack. Soon afterwards, however, he admitted that he wanted to attack the first Jewish Israeli he could find and Cohen was the unfortunate target.