After approaching the border fence with Israel, Bana entered the closed military zone and called out to the IDF soldiers to shoot him after they fired ‘warning-shots’ into the air. Instead, he continued on to get arrested, refusing Hamas’ beckoning to return to Gaza.

By Israel Today Staff

A Palestinian man from Gaza has been arrested after approaching the border fence with Israel and demanding that the IDF soldiers guarding it shoot him so he could collect a monetary reward from Hamas.

Mustafa Bana was among the thousands of Gazans who violently rioted along Gaza’s security fence last month.

Gaza protesters approaching Israel’s security fence. – AP

Toward the end of April, Bana entered the closed military zone adjacent to the fence and called out to the Israelis to shoot him. Instead, the soldiers fired in the air and demanded he back away from the fence. Ynet reports that a Hamas force also showed up and called on Bana to return to Gaza. He refused.

Bana was told by the Israelis that he could come through the fence, but that he’d be arrested and tried for terrorist activity if he did. Bana agreed, and is now on trial in Beersheva.

During his interrogation, it was revealed that Bana wanted the soldiers to shoot him so that Hamas would pay him $500 and a monthly stipend, a common reward for those injured while violently confronting Israel.

This incident is demonstrative of why so many Palestinians keep gathering at Gaza’s security fence, and why so many have been injured by Israeli soldiers.

They want to get shot.

Some are forced to go into harm’s way by their oppressive terrorist overlords. Others are swayed by hateful indoctrination. For the rest, Hamas resorts to one of the oldest tricks in the book, tempting the poorest members of society with cold hard cash to do things they would otherwise never dream of doing.

View original Israel Today publication at:
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/33904/Default.aspx