Canadian Zachareah Quraishi had only been released from the Canadian Army Reserves 12 days before he flew to Israel and attempted a stabbing attack at a Gaza periphery town. He was killed by guards. The terrorist’s military past, which was first reported by The National Post, was confirmed to The Jerusalem Post by the Department of National Defence on Thursday.
Zachareah had enlisted in July 2023, completed basic military qualification in December of that year, and was released from the Canadian Armed Forces on July 10. The department’s spokesperson said that the nature of Quraishi’s release was protected as personal information.
The 21-year-old’s father, Adam Quraishi, also shared that his son had served in the Canadian military in a Remembrance Day Facebook post. The elder Quraishi also shared that his grandfather and great-grandfather had fought in the Second and First World Wars.
He explained in a July 23 video that he believed that videos of his son conducting the attack were faked, and the person in them didn’t even look like Zachareah. He indicated in the video and the November 11 post that he believed that his son was killed because he looked Arabic.
Quraishi had approached civilians with a knife: Israel police and IDF
“Zachareah, who dedicated his life to saving lives – humanitarian work – and was tragically murdered by a country that perpetuates unimaginable violence and disinformation/gaslighting. Never again was supposed to mean to anyone by anyone. Such evil,” wrote Quraishi. “Perhaps my son resembled our Irish-French heritage, and he would have been sent back to Canada.”
The IDF and Israeli police said on July 22 that Quraishi had exited his vehicle at the entrance of Netiv HaAsara and approached civilian security with a knife. He reportedly said that “the IDF is killing civilians in Gaza.”
He was shot dead by the security team, and no other injuries were reported.