French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The man responsible for the deaths of 3 children, 3 soldiers, and a teacher in France, who was killed on Thursday by police, traveled to Israel in recent years, according to a report from the French newspaper Le Monde.

His passport showed Israeli stamps inside, along with verification of trips to Syria, Jordan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to the Jerusalem Post, analysts have said that Merah’s trip to Israel was most likely to “visit the Palestinian territories or do reconnaissance to plan a terror attack.”

Merah had been surrounded by French police since Wednesday before they raided his apartment on Thursday morning.  Upon reaching a second story bathroom, the police were fired at by Merah, who was wearing a bulletproof vest beneath his clothing.  They returned fire, hitting him in the head and killing him.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is in the middle of a re-election campaign, said that activity on the internet which preaches violence and terror, like that of Merah’s before his death, will face harsher scrutiny from the government.

“From now on, any person who habitually consults websites that advocate terrorism or that call for hate and violence will be punished,” he said. “France will not tolerate ideological indoctrination on its soil.”