Moroccan man stabs Christian pensioner in UK as ‘revenge’ for Gaza conflict

Ahmed Alid, a 45-year-old Moroccan asylum seeking living in the United Kingdom, allegedly stabbed a Christian pensioner to death in a “revenge” attack for Israel’s war in Gaza, multiple British media sources reported on Friday while citing a court hearing.

The stabbing occurred on October 15, only weeks after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, and was motivated by “the conflict in Gaza and to further his desire that Palestine would be free from the Zionists”, Teesside Crown Court was reportedly told.

Alid denied murdering the 70-year-old and denied attempting to murder his 31-year-old housemate, the Jewish Chronicle reported. The accused reportedly further denied assaulting two female police officers that interviewed him after his arrest. However, he reportedly admitted to the crimes during a police interview, the prosecution reportedly said.

Alid allegedly told police that “They [Israel] killed children and I killed an old man.”

After he was charged, Alid replied to police that “the Zionists have killed lots of women, children and innocent people, far more than him, and he had killed one person.”

Jonathan Sandiford KC, a prosecutor on the case, was cited as having said Alid armed himself with two knives in the early hours of October 15, when he attacked his sleeping housemate Javed Nouri.

Alid reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar”, meaning “God is great” before stabbing his roommate, after finding out that he had converted to Christianity.

The court heard from two other roommates, who said that Alid subscribed to an extremist form of Islam. The prosecutor also affirmed Alid "followed an extreme interpretation of Islam" and believed Nouri, 31 at the time, was an "apostate", or "someone who had denied their religion", as he was converting to Christianity, which meant he "deserved to die," BBC News reported.

The wounded housemate had complained about Alid only days before the attack, but an officer told him that no offense has been committed. 

The housing managers visited the property on 10 October and warned Alid he would have to leave the house if his behaviour continued, the jury heard, Sky News reported.

Sandiford reportedly said, “There is evidence that the defendant had several motives for attacking Nouri, one of which was also the reason why he killed Carney.

“First, there was some friction between the defendant and Nouri from living in the shared house.

“In particular, Nouri had reported the defendant to the police and those responsible for managing their accommodation.

“Second, Nouri was a Muslim who had converted to Christianity, and the defendant would therefore have regarded him as an apostate or ‘murtad’.

“Third, when the defendant was interviewed by the police, he initially thought that he had killed both Nouri and Carney.

“He said he had wanted to kill them because of the conflict in Gaza and to further his desire that Palestine would be free from the Zionists, by which he meant Israel.

“The defendant said he would have killed more people if he had been able to do so.”

The events of October 15

After stabbing his roommate, Alod fled the scene and crossed paths with 70-year-old at 5:30 in the morning. 

Doorbell camera footage was reportedly shown to the court where the elderly man could be heard screaming “no, no” while he was stabbed six times in the chest, abdomen and back. 

The call to emergency services, which was released by the Metro, revealed the sound of an adult man repeatedly shouting "Allah Akbar!"

The site also released footage of the arrest.

Alid was found near the body of the pensioner with a bloody knife in his waistband, according to the JC. 

In custody at Middlesbrough police station, Alid was recorded speaking in Arabic, saying “Allah willing, Gaza would return to be an Arab country”.

Sandiford said he went on “to praise Allah and spoke of him being displeased with those who went astray”, of Palestine, and “that the Jews had divided the Arabs”.

Alid said that if he had not injured his hands “he would have continued what he referred to as ‘the raid’”, Sandiford said.

The prosecution added: “The defendant spoke of returning with the army of Muhammed with the non-believers having to pay tax to the Muslims and be humbled.”

Sandiford said: “When asked to explain what had happened, he replied the whole issue was for the independence of Palestine, and that to have two dead victims was better than more because ‘we’ want the brutal Israeli colonizer to depart Palestine.

“He said he had killed two adults because Israel had killed innocent children – in other words he said he had committed the attempted murder of Javed Nouri and the murder of Carney in revenge for what he believed to be the killing of children by Israel.

“He swore by Allah that, if he had had a machine gun, and more weapons, he would have killed more victims.”

Justice Cheeba-Grubb told jurors it was “unlikely” Alid will deny stabbing the two men but it would be for them to decide what his intentions were when he did the acts.

The hearing was adjourned until Friday.

Only 6 days after the stabbings, The Jerusalem Post reported that a Hamas-related terror attack was being kept underwraps in the UK. It is unclear if that case pertains to Alid's.