Ben Gvir, police in a previous standoff
Ben Gvir, police in a previous standoffIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Jewish nationalists from the Our Land of Israel group tried to assault Hamas terror official Muhammad Abu Tir Thursday after his release from jail.

The nationalists, headed by Itamar Ben Gvir, broke into the Russian Compound police station where Abu Tir had been summoned for questioning. They shouted: “Terrorist! In a normal country you would have been hanged... you should [die as an] atonement for [abducted IDF soldier] Gilad Shalit!”

Police forces extricated Abu Tir and whisked him away from the furious group.

Abu Tir had been summoned for questioning mere hours after his release from jail, where he had been doing time since 2006. He was presumably grilled over statements he made to the press upon his release. According to Arab sources, police issued an order at the end of the interrogation, banning Abu-Tir from eastern Jerusalem for a month. 

Friends of the Shalit family voiced harsh criticism of the release of Abu Tir, who was seen as a bargaining chip for the return of their son Gilad. Abu Tir was nabbed in an IDF operation in the aftermath of the Shalit abduction.