The Assailant was Omar al-Abed, aged 19, from Kobar, near Ramallah. Two hours before the attack, Omar Al-Abed al-Jalil had called for the defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque located on the Temple Mount on his Facebook page, writing: Take your weapons and resist... I only have a knife and it will answer the call of Al-Aqsa... I know I am going and will not return. Al-Jalil carried a Quran and a bottle of water to the attack, and is believed to have ritually purified himself prior to entering the house and attacking.