Itamar attack
Encyclopedia
The Itamar attack, also called the Itamar massacre,
was an attack on a Jewish family in the Israeli settlement
of Itamar in the West Bank
that took place on 11 March 2011, in which five members of the same family were murdered in their beds. The victims were the father Ehud (Udi) Fogel, the mother Ruth Fogel, and three of their six children—Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and Hadas, the youngest, a three-month-old infant, who was decapitated. The settlement of Itamar had been the target of several murderous attacks before these killings.
Amjad Awad and Hakim Awad, two young Palestinian men from the village of Awarta
, were arrested for the murders. They proudly confessed to the killings, expressed no remorse, and reenacted the attack before the security officials. On 5 June 2011 they were indicted on five counts of murder, stealing weapons, breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Both were later found guilty. According to Ynetnews, they had earlier denied any involvement in the attack.
The attack was harshly condemned by the United Nations, the Quartet on the Middle East
, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other governments, as well as the Palestinian Authority and a number of non-governmental organizations.
, operations by Palestinian militant organizations in the West Bank
had been declining. Over the previous two years, Israel had removed a number of roadblocks and checkpoints, although a security fence remained in place around Itamar. The attack was the first killing of settlers since a drive-by shooting in August 2010 left four dead near Kiryat Arba
. Attacks on Israeli settlements in the West Bank had been defended by some Palestinians on previous occasions, who argued that the settlers are de-facto combatants in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict
.
Itamar, with a population of 1,032 (2009), mostly ideologically motivated national-religious Israeli-Jewish families considered among the most fervent Israeli settlers in the West Bank, has had numerous confrontations with local Palestinians. Tensions between Itamar and the nearby Palestinian village of Awarta had been rising before the attack. Palestinians had accused settlers in the locality of cutting down hundreds of olive trees, burning cars and shooting at Palestinian residents. Ten Palestinians and one settler were injured in a confrontation in the week before the attack, when Israeli soldiers were accused of opening fire to quell the clash.
and served a five-year prison sentence for murdering a female cousin and cremating her body. His uncle Jibril was also a PFLP militant who had participated in a 2002 attack against Itamar which left four civilians and the settlement's security officer dead, and who was killed in a 2003 clash with Israeli troops. Amjad Mahmad Awad was also affiliated with the PFLP. He had been been employed in Israel as a laborer, and was a student at the Al-Quds Open University of Nablus. The families of the two suspects denied the two committed the massacre
. Hakim Awad's mother, Nawef, claimed that her son was at home the night of the murder and never left the house, claiming that "five months ago Hakim underwent a surgery in his stomach and I'm sure he was tortured and forced into confessing." Amjad's family also claimed that he was in the village at the time of the event. One relative said that Hakim and Amjad did not know each other, as "one went to university, the other is in high school". He also claimed that if they had been guilty, they would have been captured within days, as "the whole world knows about Israel's advanced investigation abilities and its use of sophisticated means". Shin Bet, however, claimed that in spite of the time passed between the murders and arrests, it was a major achievement.
Amjad and Hakim Awad had decided to carry out an attack on Itamar days before. Three days before the killings, they approached a PFLP member with a request for weapons, but were rebuffed. At midday on Friday, 11 March, they decided that they would enter Itamar later that night, and carry out an attack armed with knives.
Several media sources, among them the Guardian
and the Washington Post, first reported that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah
, the dominant political faction in the West Bank
, claimed responsibility for the attack,
whereas the Jerusalem Post reported, that the "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Imad Mughniyeh" had claimed responsibility, a group named after a Hezbollah chief of military operations and liaison with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in 2008. According to Al Hayat, officials of "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades" denied association with the Imad Mughniyeh-group or the attack.
The Jerusalem Post
reported that a number of media outlets affiliated with the Palestinian Authority doubt Israeli claims that the killings were committed by Palestinians and report that a Thai
worker who was employed in the settlement had been arrested on suspicion of the killings.
Amjad and Hakim Awad were already in custody when they were identified as the killers, and their names released to the public on April 17. They offered a detailed account of the attack, as well as a reenactment. Despite the ties of both suspects to the PFLP, Shin Bet investigators did not identify the attack as being carried out under the auspices of the PFLP, but rather as an individual act. Israeli authorities said that they planned their attack well ahead of time, and showed no remorse for their actions.
After crossing the fence, Amjad and Hakim walked 400 meters into the settlement. The perpetrators first broke into a house of the Chai family who were on vacation, searching all the rooms. They stole an M-16 assault rifle, ammunition, a helmet, and a kevlar vest. They waited an hour and entered the Fogels' house at around 10:30 pm According to the indictment, the two entered the children's room, told eleven year old Yoav, who had been awakened by their entry not to be afraid, then took him to a nearby room, slashed his throat, and stabbed him in the chest. Hakim Awad then strangled four-year-old Elad with Amjad Awad stabbing him twice in the chest. The two next entered the parents' room, and turned on the light, waking them up. The parents then struggled with the attackers. Ehud Fogel was repeatedly stabbed in the neck, and Ruth Fogel was stabbed in the neck and back and then shot when the suspects saw that she was not dead. The suspects then left the house. According to the confessions of the suspects, they feared that the shots had been heard. When they went outside, they saw a patrol vehicle, but realized that they had not been discovered when it did nothing. The two then argued over whether to withdraw or carry out attacks in other homes, with Hakim insisting that they return immediately to Awarta, and Amjad arguing that they should return to the home and steal another weapon. Amjad then re-entered the Fogel home. When 3-month old Hadas began crying, Amjad stabbed her in the head and decapitated her, fearing the cries would attract attention. The attackers did not notice two other children asleep in the house at the time. In their confessions they said and that they would not have hesitated to kill them if they had noticed them. The perpetrators also stole Ehud's M-16 rifle. They left the settlement without being detected.
Amjad and Hakim Awad returned to Awarta on foot, and appealed to Hakim's uncle, PFLP militant Salah Awad, for assistance, and gave him a detailed description of the attack. Salah helped them conceal their stolen weapons and burn their bloodstained clothes, and later transferred the stolen weapons to Jad Avid, a contact in Ramallah
for hiding.
The bodies were discovered by Tamar Fogel, the 12-year-old daughter of the family who arrived home around midnight after a youth outing. After finding that the door was locked, she asked her neighbor, Rabbi Ya'akov Cohen, for help. He noticed tracks and mud near the house, and brought a weapon with him. The two then woke the sleeping 6-year old boy by calling through the window, and he opened the door, after which Cohen returned to his home. When the girl discovered the murders, she ran outside screaming, and the Rabbi ran back, firing several shots into the air to alert security personnel. Rabbi Cohen, who later entered the house with the girl, said that her two-year-old brother "was lying next to his bleeding parents, shaking them with his hands and trying to get them to wake up, while crying... The sight in the house was shocking." Magen David Adom
paramedics and ZAKA
(Disaster Victim Identification) volunteers were called to the scene, including ZAKA regional commander Gil Bismot. Paramedics followed a trail of toys and blood to the bedroom, where they discovered the first three bodies: the mother, father and infant. In the next room they found the body of the 11-year-old sibling. Finally they reached the last bedroom, where the 3-year-old boy was severely injured and dying. The toddler died of his wounds despite the efforts of medical personnel.
In accordance with Jewish law, the bodies remained in the home throughout the Jewish Sabbath
, watched over by ZAKA volunteers. Immediately after the end of the Sabbath, another team of ZAKA volunteers arrived from Immanuel
and the wider region were dispatched to Itamar. ZAKA volunteers collected all human remains and cleaned up the scene. Dr. Yehuda Hiss
of the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute
in Tel Aviv
traveled to Itamar to carry out an examination of the bodies. The procedure was supervised by the head of the ZAKA Rabbinical Council, Rabbi Ya'akov Roget.
activists from Neve Tzuf, Ruth Fogel, age 35, the daughter of a Jerusalem rabbi
, and three of their six children, Yoav, age 11, Elad, age 4, and three months old Hadas.
The Fogel family had recently settled in Itamar. They previously lived in the Gush Katif
settlement of Netzarim
in the Gaza Strip
. After Israel evacuated
its Gaza settlements in 2005, they moved to the settlement of Ariel
, and in 2009 to Itamar, where Udi Fogel worked as teacher at the post-high school yeshiva
.
Three of the family's children, Tamar, age 12, Roi, age 6, and Yishai, age 2 have survived physically unharmed. They are being cared for by grandparents in the aftermath of the attack. Twelve-year-old Tamar is quoted as having promised her relatives: "I will be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings."
Cemetery in Givat Shaul
, Jerusalem, was attended by some 20,000 people and broadcast on Israeli television. Speakers included former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau
, quoted as saying: "We will not bend, we will not give up, we returned to the land of our fathers and it is our home, and the children shall return within their borders and nothing will prevent our faith in the righteousness of our path", Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger
, who, linking the murderers to Amalek
, stated that "Itamar needs to become a major city in Israel as a response to this murder", and Knesset
Speaker Reuven Rivlin
, whose final remarks were: "Build more, live more, more footholds – that is our response to the murderers so that they know – they can't defeat us".
Ruth Fogel's father was quoted as having said: "Our children are prepared to be sacrificed as an offering at the altar we have to continue to build to bring redemption. Udi and Ruthie wanted this redemption."
Udi Fogel's brother Motti Fogel spoke out against the use that has been made of the murder of the family: "All the slogans about Torah
and settlement, the Land of Israel and the people of Israel are attempts to forget the simple and pain-torn fact: you are dead. You are dead, and no slogan will bring you back. You are not a symbol or a national event. Your life was a purpose in and of itself, and it should be forbidden for your terrible death to turn your life into some sort of tool."
Following the end of the 30-day mourning period, a memorial service was held in Itamar, where the cornerstone for a new kollel
to be named after Udi Fogel was laid. Hundreds of people attended, including Sephardi Chief Rabbi Moshe Amar
, Knesset
members Tzipi Hotovely
(Likud
) and Uri Ariel
(National Union
), and Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan. Many participants signed a Megillah scroll, which was recited by former Military Rabbinate
Chief and Yeshiva head Avichai Rontzki
before being placed within the foundations of the new kollel.
(IDF) and Israel Police
arrived in Itamar and conducted a search across the village of Itamar. The Israeli Air Force
used UAV
s for aerial surveillance of the area. Israeli authorities declared the nearby West Bank city of Nablus
a closed military zone. Israeli troops set up checkpoints on the roads leading to the city and prevented vehicles and pedestrians from leaving or entering, according to Palestinians. Residential areas were placed under curfew, and Israeli troops conducted house-to-house searches. The previously-dismantled Huwwara Checkpoint was re-established.
An initial probe suggested two perpetrators entered Itamar shortly after 9 pm, jumping over the settlement's security fence, and remained in the settlement for three hours without being noticed. Due to the characteristics of the killings, the IDF estimated that the attack was not carried out by an organized terrorist infrastructure but was the work of one or two people, presumably Palestinian. Israeli authorities initially suspected that the killings may have been in revenge for the killing of two Palestinian teenagers from Awarta
, who were shot dead near Itamar in 2010.
In Itamar, the Fogel family home was cordoned off by red tape and guarded by soldiers. A forensics team probed the home, collecting evidence left behind by the killers.
An IDF tracker spotted indications that the perpetrators had scaled the fence, and found footprints and equipment abandoned by the killers leading out of Itamar. The tracker, accompanied by an IDF force, followed the tracks to the Palestinian village of Awarta
. IDF troops entered the town of Burqa
, northwest of Nablus, searching houses and questioning residents. They did not make any arrests. IDF soldiers and Israel Border Police
gendarmes also entered the villages of Sanur
and Zababdeh
, arresting several dozen Palestinians.
A gag order
was imposed on the investigation.
Awarta
was placed under curfew and declared a closed military zone. IDF troops and Israel Border Police
conducted mass arrests of residents throughout the following days. According to Palestinian sources, all men from Awarta were questioned. Residents reported constant door-to-door searches, with some homes being searched up to three times. According to witness reports, Israeli armored vehicles patrolled the village's streets, and troops were deployed on the hilltops around the village. The city of Nablus
remained under closure, but four days after the murders, a food delivery was permitted into the city. On 29 March 2011, the IDF initiated a second wave of arrests in Awarta, detaining 60 Palestinians, including the Deputy Mayor of Awarta, and collecting DNA samples. About 20 were immediately released following DNA testing, and another 40 were interrogated. A week later, AFP
reported that the IDF arrested more than 100 women from the village, placing them in a camp where they were fingerprinted and DNA samples were taken, before most of them were released.
On 11 April, daily IDF raids continued in the village, and troops continued to maintain roadblocks at the entrance. According to allegations by Israeli leftists and Awarta residents, soldiers humiliated residents and damaged property. Palestinian officials claimed that Israel had seized land around the village to expand nearby settlements. The Palestinian Authority
condemned the raids and called on the international community to pressure Israel into halting them.
Shin Bet questioned numerous Awarta villagers who had been arrested, with some residents who had been arrested and released being again questioned by Shin Bet investigators. Meanwhile, the IDF continued to question residents in various parts of Awarta. The interrogations produced various leads, but slowly, the circle of potential suspects was narrowed. At this stage, the IDF's elite Duvdevan Unit
and the Israel Police
's special undercover unit began making secret arrests of suspects, and interrogations of the suspects produced additional intelligence information. Hakim Awad was arrested on 5 April, but initially said nothing, and started to cooperae only after more information pointed to him. Amjad Awad was arrested on 10 April. In addition to information gathered from interrogations, evidence gathered by the forensics team that had searched the Fogel family home linked them to the killings. The two were identified as the perpetrators, and kept in custody pending trial. On 17 April, it was officially cleared for publication that Amjad and Hakim Awad had been identified as the killers. Both suspects confessed to the killings and offered a detailed account. They expressed no remorse for their actions, and performed a reenactment of the attack before security officials. Amjad Awad declared that he was proud of what he did and had no regrets, even if he was sentenced to death.
Subsequently, Hakim's father, two uncles, and brother were arrested for hiding the murder weapons and suppressing additional evidence. Israeli security forces also arrested arrested the PFLP militant who they had approached for weapons, and raided the Ramallah
home of Jad Avid, Salah Awad's contact, who had hidden the two stolen assault rifles following the attack. Avid was arrested, and both of the assault rifles were found in his home.
The Military Prosecution considered requesting the death penalty, due to the extreme nature of the attack.
On 5 June 2011, Amjad and Hakim Awad were indicted before the Judea and Samaria Sector Military Court on five counts of murder, stealing weapons, breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The suspects confessed to the murder and the military prosecution in the case say there is forensic evidence linking them to the scene of the crime, including DNA samples and fingerprints. According to a senior Shin Bet official involved in the investigation, despite the suspects' young age, Hakim and Amjad "described what they did with self-control and did not express regret over their actions at any stage of the investigation." Amjad told reporters in the court "I don't regret what I did and I would do it again. I'm proud of what I did and I'll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine".
Hakim Awad was found guilty of the murder of five members of the Fogel family in August 2011. He was also convicted for weapons-related and other security offenses. In September 2011 he was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences and another five years in prison. Prior to the sentencing Awad declared he was not sorry and claimed he murdered the five "because of the occupation." In October 2011, Amjad Awad pled guilty to five counts of murder.
approved the construction of 500 housing units in the West Bank
settlements and settlement blocs of Gush Etzion
, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel
and Modi'in Illit
, areas of the West Bank that Israel intends to keep under any permanent accord with the Palestinians. The decision was taken in a late-night cabinet meeting, in which both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and Defense Minister Ehud Barak
took part, after several alternatives, such as starting a new settlement or widening the settlement of Itamar, were rejected. The decision brought harsh criticism from both the Palestinians and the United States. A spokesperson from the U.S. State Department
told the Jewish Week that the "United States is deeply concerned by continuing Israeli actions with respect to settlements in the West Bank" and that "[c]ontinued Israeli settlements are illegitimate and run counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
, visiting relatives of the victims, told the mourners: "They shoot and we build".
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Itamar three days after the massacre. After visiting the Fogel home, he said "you enter and see the sign 'Happy birthday for your new baby girl', then see this pogrom
. The same sights we once read about only in books is found here at the heart of a Jewish community". Lieberman emphasized that it was the Israeli government's duty to ensure the security of its citizens, called on the Palestinian Authority to stop incitement, and urged Israeli political rather than security concessions in negotiation with the Palestinians, claiming that Hamas
would take over the West Bank once Israel withdrew. However, Lieberman stressed his opposition to of the death penalty being imposed on the perpetrators, claiming that "we should not be guided by revenge".
On 4 April 2011, a new bill that would prohibit the murderers of children from being included in any prisoner exchange
s, and would prohibit the President
from pardoning them was proposed in the Knesset
by MK Yoel Hasson
(Kadima
) and co-sponsored by MKs Eitan Cabel (Labor) and Ze'ev Elkin
(Likud
). Several MKs also proposed legislation imposing the death penalty for terrorism.
In the aftermath of the attack, large Israeli military and police forces were deployed near Nablus
to prevent clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. The following day, the Israel Police
increased its presence in settler areas to counter possible retaliatory attacks by settlers against Palestinians. Around 100 police officers deployed in or around the Jewish Quarter and nearby Arab neighborhoods of Hebron
and the nearby town of Kiryat Arba
. IDF and Police forces also deployed in major intersections throughout the West Bank.
and Ramallah
. The BBC characterized the attacks as acts of revenge for the Fogel murders. Israeli settlers handed out leaflets threatening the lives of villagers in Beitillu, near Ramallah, and vandalized Palestinian property in Hebron. Settlers blocked a junction in Gush Etzion
, and threw stones at Palestinians. Several were arrested by IDF and police forces deployed on the scene. Israeli activists blocked an intersection near Psagot
on Highway 60
. Palestinians reported that settlers from Bat Ayin
took part in the protest, and that Israeli Police had fired tear gas at Palestinians on the site. Palestinians also claimed that settlers entered the village of Huwwara and threw stones at residents. Settlers near Nablus and in the Kedumim
area stoned and burned Palestinian vehicles, and reportedly blocked the Jit Junction. Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh, Rosh Yeshiva
of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the settlement of Yitzhar
, a settlement located close to Itamar, issued a statement calling for the demolition of houses in a village near Itamar every 30 minutes until the residents turn the perpetrators in, and to "kill the murderers immediately after they are turned in".
Small demonstrations against the attack broke out in Israel on 13 March. Dozens of demonstrators protested in the Horev, Tzabar, Megiddo
, and Azrieli Junctions, carrying signs proclaiming "we are settlers too" and "peace isn't signed with blood". Numerous drivers honked their car horns in solidarity. Several dozen right-wing activists also protested near Jerusalem, chanting "revenge" and "death to Arabs", and carrying signs reading "the government destroys communities – the Arabs murder Jews". The following day, dozens of students from Bar-Ilan University
protested near Highway 4
, chanting "enough to violence and incitement – talk to humans not murderers".
On 14 March, settlers clashed with Palestinians near Nablus, which ended after Israeli troops dispersed the Palestinians with live fire. An Israeli settler and ten Palestinians were wounded during the clashes. Three days later, two Palestinian workers employed in the settlement of Shilo were attacked by masked men armed with iron rods and pepper spray, as was an Israeli securtiy guard who attempted to protect them.
On 16 March, some 200 settlers marched from Itamar into Awarta to protest the killings. Fourteen entered the village and threw stones at homes. IDF soldiers and Border Police gendarmes dispersed the rioters. A number of settlers also marched up a hill near Itamar to support the construction of a new settlement outpost there.
An opinion poll conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
found, according to the groups, "In light of the attack in Itamar, 59% among Israelis oppose and 33% support the government policy to relax the security measures in the West Bank such as the removal of road blocks." The groups asked 601 adult Israelis interviewed by phone in Hebrew, Arabic, or Russian between 21 and 28 March 2011.
On 16 March Haaretz reported that residents of Itamar were undertaking the construction of a new outpost, unofficially named "Aryeh." "Aryeh" is Hebrew for lion, as well as an approximate acronym for the names Udi, Ruth, Yoav, Elad and Hadas, the five victims of the attack. On 1 November, Aryeh was demolished by Israeli Civil Administration personnel backed by IDF troops and police officers. During the demolition operation, three permanent structures, two makeshift structures and a synagogue were razed. A control panel and the electricity system that powered a security camera purchased by the Shomron Regional Council were also destroyed, and a security official claimed that the electric system was illegal and was destroyed to protect Civil Administration personnel from being electrocuted. Settlers claimed that three Torah
scrolls were confiscated.
A paramedic interviewed in an Israeli newspaper stated that on the day of the attack, settlers saw fireworks and celebrations in nearby Palestinian communities. In the Gaza Strip
, the killings sparked celebrations in the city of Rafah
, where Palestinians handed out candy and sweets on the streets. A resident described the celebrations as "a natural response to the harm settlers inflict on the Palestinian residents in the West Bank".
MEMRI
, commenting on reactions to the murders in the Palestinian media, stated that while a Hamas website praised the murders, in the rest of the Palestinian media the murder of children ("even of settlers") was strongly condemned as unequivocally immoral and contrary to Palestinian values, and as doing nothing to help the Palestinian cause. One editorial, for example, stated: "Stabbing an infant to death is a crime against humanity. Whoever did this was insane, or charged with racist assumptions. This is not nationalist; there is no connection between the murder of the infant in the settlement of Itamar and the values of our people's struggle." Many questioned whether such a murderer could be Palestinian. The PLO condemned the murders and accused Israel of jumping to the conclusion that the perpetrator was Palestinian and of exploiting the tragedy for its own political gains. A Haaretz
article also reported that Palestinians in newspapers and on social networking sites condemned the attack while also criticizing settlers and the Israeli government's declaration of new settlement units in retaliation.
An opinion poll conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
found that 63% of Palestinians surveyed opposed the attack while 32% supported. The groups interviewed 1,270 adults face-to-face in the West Bank
, East Jerusalem
, and Gaza Strip
from 17 to 19 March 2011.
a week after the attack. It was attended by 1,000 local residents, with 2,000 more viewing a live broadcast over the internet. President of the New York Board of Rabbis
Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier said of the victims that they "were treated as criminals for settling and building beautiful lives in the heartland of our ancestral holy land." Pastor of the Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem, Reverend Jacques DeGraff, told the gathered mourners, "I'm here today because it is not enough for the friends of Israel to issue a statement." The service was jointly sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Consulate General of Israel in New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the UJA-Federation
of New York, and Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun.
Gary Rosenblatt
, editor-in-chief of The Jewish Week
, commented that reactions to the Itamar killings may have been more muted given that the victims were religious Israelis living in a small West Bank settlement. He stated that if the victims had been secular Jews living inside the Green Line
"outrage would have been far greater".
Jewish Eurovision contest, held this year in Rome, Italy. The team was inspired by the fact that daughter Tamar Fogel's life was spared owing to her being out of the house at the time of the attack, attending a Benei Akiva event.
Israel:
Palestinian territories:
Intergovernmental organizations: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
's office published a statement saying, "The Secretary-General condemns last night's shocking murder of an Israeli family of five, including three children, in a West Bank settlement. He calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, and for all to act with restraint."
International: The Australian government condemned the attack and extended its condolences to the surviving family members and friends. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd
called the attack "a despicable act of terrorism" and said, "There can be no justification for the brutal murder of three innocent children and their parents.": The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
issued a statement broadly condemning "the outburst of violence in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," referring to the attack in Itamar, a subsequent bomb attack in Jerusalem, violence in the Gaza Strip, and missile attacks against Israeli citizens from Gaza. The statement said that Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere
"very firmly condemns the use of any violence against civilians. It is intolerable to inflict terror by using random violence, endangering the lives of children, women and men.": Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon
said in a statement, "The brutal killing of five Israelis, including children, cannot be justified." He called the atrocities "heinous acts of terror" and demanded the full cooperation of the Palestinian Authority in holding the murderers accountable.: Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias
condemned the attack, calling its perpetrators "inhuman", and expressed condolences to the family and to the people of Israel.: Foreign Minister Alain Juppé
said that "France utterly condemns the assassination of five members of an Israeli family yesterday in the settlement of Itamar, on the West Bank. Among the victims of this barbarous act were three children, including a baby", and offered his condolences to the family of the victims and the Israeli authorities. Juppé further stated that France "condemns all acts of violence in the occupied territories and calls for maximum restraint in order to prevent deterioration in the situation. The quest for peace through negotiations must prevail." The French consul-general in Jerusalem, Frédérique Desagleau, attended the funeral of the five victims. French Ambassador to Israel Christine Bigot visited the parents of Ruth Fogel to present condolences.: Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
condemned the "cruel and heinous" slayings, saying, "nothing can justify such attacks.": Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregory Delavekouras stated that "we unequivocally codemn the murder of a five-member Israeli family – including three young children – and express our deep condolences and support to the relatives and friends. The murder of children in their sleep is an inconceivably ungodly, inhuman, and barbarous act", and called for the murderers to be brought to justice immediately. The statement also urged the peace process to continue and reiterated that the settlements were illegal, but stated that "any act of violence against civilians is condemnable, whatever its source".: Irish Tánaiste
and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore
, condemned the murder of the Fogel family, calling it "an appalling act of violence" and "a senseless atrocity." Gilmore urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume direct peace talks and move toward "a just settlement, based on two States living side by side.": Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies
, Gianfranco Fini
, telephoned his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, and denounced the attack as a "most terrible and tragic event." He offered condolences on behalf of the Italian people to the bereaved family and to the entire people of Israel.: The Japanese Foreign Ministry stated that "Japan strongly condemns the murder which occurred 12 March in Itamar, northern West Bank. Japan expresses its heartfelt sympathy for the victims and sends condolences to the bereaved relatives. Such an act cannot be justified for any reason, and any attempt to justify violence is unacceptable.": The Dutch Foreign Ministry expressed "outrage" at the killings, stating that "a crime like this can never be justified", called for all perpetrators to be brought to justice, and urged the Palestinian Authority to cooperate in arresting the suspects. It also stressed that it agreed with the Quartet in stressing the importance of achieving peace between Israel and it's neighbors. Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal
offered condolences to the victims' family and Israel.: Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre
released a statement saying, "I condemn the brutal killing of a family of six Israelis in the West Bank. This is a criminal act, and those responsible must be brought to justice as soon as possible.": The Foreign Ministry of Spain issued a statement condemning the attack "in the most energetic terms" and expressed hope that it would not lead to an escalation of violence in the region.: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
published a message on the ministry's website calling the attack "unacceptable." He stressed that the "act of terror, against innocent children is a crime that violates the most basic of rights, the right to life.": Foreign Secretary William Hague
said, "The friends and relatives of the family killed in Itamar have my deepest sympathies. This was an act of incomprehensible cruelty and brutality which I utterly condemn. We hope the perpetrator is swiftly brought to justice.": White House
spokesman Jay Carney
said, "There is no possible justification for the killing of parents and children in their home. We call on the Palestinian Authority to unequivocally condemn this terrorist attack and for the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be held accountable." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the brutal murder of an Israeli family. The United States condemns this appalling attack in the strongest possible terms. To kill three innocent children and their parents while they sleep is an inhuman crime for which there can be no justification".
was an attack on a Jewish family in the Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
of Itamar in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
that took place on 11 March 2011, in which five members of the same family were murdered in their beds. The victims were the father Ehud (Udi) Fogel, the mother Ruth Fogel, and three of their six children—Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and Hadas, the youngest, a three-month-old infant, who was decapitated. The settlement of Itamar had been the target of several murderous attacks before these killings.
Amjad Awad and Hakim Awad, two young Palestinian men from the village of Awarta
Awarta
Awarta is a Palestinian town located southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007...
, were arrested for the murders. They proudly confessed to the killings, expressed no remorse, and reenacted the attack before the security officials. On 5 June 2011 they were indicted on five counts of murder, stealing weapons, breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Both were later found guilty. According to Ynetnews, they had earlier denied any involvement in the attack.
The attack was harshly condemned by the United Nations, the Quartet on the Middle East
Quartet on the Middle East
The Quartet on the Middle East, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet are the United Nations, the...
, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other governments, as well as the Palestinian Authority and a number of non-governmental organizations.
Local tensions
Due to an increase in security measures by the Palestinian National AuthorityPalestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
, operations by Palestinian militant organizations in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
had been declining. Over the previous two years, Israel had removed a number of roadblocks and checkpoints, although a security fence remained in place around Itamar. The attack was the first killing of settlers since a drive-by shooting in August 2010 left four dead near Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba , lit. "Town of the Four," is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Mountains region of the West Bank on the edge of Hebron. Its settlers consist of a mix of Russian immigrants, American immigrants, and native-born Israelis numbering close to 10,000...
. Attacks on Israeli settlements in the West Bank had been defended by some Palestinians on previous occasions, who argued that the settlers are de-facto combatants in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
.
Itamar, with a population of 1,032 (2009), mostly ideologically motivated national-religious Israeli-Jewish families considered among the most fervent Israeli settlers in the West Bank, has had numerous confrontations with local Palestinians. Tensions between Itamar and the nearby Palestinian village of Awarta had been rising before the attack. Palestinians had accused settlers in the locality of cutting down hundreds of olive trees, burning cars and shooting at Palestinian residents. Ten Palestinians and one settler were injured in a confrontation in the week before the attack, when Israeli soldiers were accused of opening fire to quell the clash.
Responsibility
The attack was carried out by Amjad Mahmad Awad, 19, and Hakim Mazen Awad, 18. Both are from the Awad clan, which makes up about half of Awarta's population, but are not directly related. Hakim Mazen Awad was a high school student whose father, Mazen, is active in the PFLP. Mazen had previously been arrested by the Palestinian National AuthorityPalestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
and served a five-year prison sentence for murdering a female cousin and cremating her body. His uncle Jibril was also a PFLP militant who had participated in a 2002 attack against Itamar which left four civilians and the settlement's security officer dead, and who was killed in a 2003 clash with Israeli troops. Amjad Mahmad Awad was also affiliated with the PFLP. He had been been employed in Israel as a laborer, and was a student at the Al-Quds Open University of Nablus. The families of the two suspects denied the two committed the massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
. Hakim Awad's mother, Nawef, claimed that her son was at home the night of the murder and never left the house, claiming that "five months ago Hakim underwent a surgery in his stomach and I'm sure he was tortured and forced into confessing." Amjad's family also claimed that he was in the village at the time of the event. One relative said that Hakim and Amjad did not know each other, as "one went to university, the other is in high school". He also claimed that if they had been guilty, they would have been captured within days, as "the whole world knows about Israel's advanced investigation abilities and its use of sophisticated means". Shin Bet, however, claimed that in spite of the time passed between the murders and arrests, it was a major achievement.
Amjad and Hakim Awad had decided to carry out an attack on Itamar days before. Three days before the killings, they approached a PFLP member with a request for weapons, but were rebuffed. At midday on Friday, 11 March, they decided that they would enter Itamar later that night, and carry out an attack armed with knives.
Several media sources, among them the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and the Washington Post, first reported that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
, the dominant political faction in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, claimed responsibility for the attack,
whereas the Jerusalem Post reported, that the "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Imad Mughniyeh" had claimed responsibility, a group named after a Hezbollah chief of military operations and liaison with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in 2008. According to Al Hayat, officials of "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades" denied association with the Imad Mughniyeh-group or the attack.
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
reported that a number of media outlets affiliated with the Palestinian Authority doubt Israeli claims that the killings were committed by Palestinians and report that a Thai
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
worker who was employed in the settlement had been arrested on suspicion of the killings.
Amjad and Hakim Awad were already in custody when they were identified as the killers, and their names released to the public on April 17. They offered a detailed account of the attack, as well as a reenactment. Despite the ties of both suspects to the PFLP, Shin Bet investigators did not identify the attack as being carried out under the auspices of the PFLP, but rather as an individual act. Israeli authorities said that they planned their attack well ahead of time, and showed no remorse for their actions.
The attack
According to Israeli investigators, Amjad and Hakim Awad had attempted to acquire weapons from a Popular Front militant in Awarta. After he refused, they decided to carry out the attack using knives. Just after 9 pm on Friday night, the two left Awarta carrying several knives, an umbrella, and wire-cutting shears. The two tried to cut through the settlement's security fence, but eventually climbed over it. An initial probe showed that the fence around Itamar functioned properly. At about the same time that they infiltrated, an alarm sounded in the settlement's security room, indicating the exact location where they entered. But neither the settlement's civilian security team nor the civilian security officer, who went to the site of the disturbance and found nothing out of order, informed soldiers patrolling the area of the fence, concluding that an animal had set off the alarm, although procedures prescribe that the IDF is to be informed of any alarm.After crossing the fence, Amjad and Hakim walked 400 meters into the settlement. The perpetrators first broke into a house of the Chai family who were on vacation, searching all the rooms. They stole an M-16 assault rifle, ammunition, a helmet, and a kevlar vest. They waited an hour and entered the Fogels' house at around 10:30 pm According to the indictment, the two entered the children's room, told eleven year old Yoav, who had been awakened by their entry not to be afraid, then took him to a nearby room, slashed his throat, and stabbed him in the chest. Hakim Awad then strangled four-year-old Elad with Amjad Awad stabbing him twice in the chest. The two next entered the parents' room, and turned on the light, waking them up. The parents then struggled with the attackers. Ehud Fogel was repeatedly stabbed in the neck, and Ruth Fogel was stabbed in the neck and back and then shot when the suspects saw that she was not dead. The suspects then left the house. According to the confessions of the suspects, they feared that the shots had been heard. When they went outside, they saw a patrol vehicle, but realized that they had not been discovered when it did nothing. The two then argued over whether to withdraw or carry out attacks in other homes, with Hakim insisting that they return immediately to Awarta, and Amjad arguing that they should return to the home and steal another weapon. Amjad then re-entered the Fogel home. When 3-month old Hadas began crying, Amjad stabbed her in the head and decapitated her, fearing the cries would attract attention. The attackers did not notice two other children asleep in the house at the time. In their confessions they said and that they would not have hesitated to kill them if they had noticed them. The perpetrators also stole Ehud's M-16 rifle. They left the settlement without being detected.
Amjad and Hakim Awad returned to Awarta on foot, and appealed to Hakim's uncle, PFLP militant Salah Awad, for assistance, and gave him a detailed description of the attack. Salah helped them conceal their stolen weapons and burn their bloodstained clothes, and later transferred the stolen weapons to Jad Avid, a contact in Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
for hiding.
The bodies were discovered by Tamar Fogel, the 12-year-old daughter of the family who arrived home around midnight after a youth outing. After finding that the door was locked, she asked her neighbor, Rabbi Ya'akov Cohen, for help. He noticed tracks and mud near the house, and brought a weapon with him. The two then woke the sleeping 6-year old boy by calling through the window, and he opened the door, after which Cohen returned to his home. When the girl discovered the murders, she ran outside screaming, and the Rabbi ran back, firing several shots into the air to alert security personnel. Rabbi Cohen, who later entered the house with the girl, said that her two-year-old brother "was lying next to his bleeding parents, shaking them with his hands and trying to get them to wake up, while crying... The sight in the house was shocking." Magen David Adom
Magen David Adom
The Magen David Adom is Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The name means "Red Star of David"...
paramedics and ZAKA
ZAKA
ZAKA , is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district . These organizations are officially recognized by the government...
(Disaster Victim Identification) volunteers were called to the scene, including ZAKA regional commander Gil Bismot. Paramedics followed a trail of toys and blood to the bedroom, where they discovered the first three bodies: the mother, father and infant. In the next room they found the body of the 11-year-old sibling. Finally they reached the last bedroom, where the 3-year-old boy was severely injured and dying. The toddler died of his wounds despite the efforts of medical personnel.
In accordance with Jewish law, the bodies remained in the home throughout the Jewish Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath in Christianity is a weekly day of rest or religious observance, derived from the Biblical Sabbath.Seventh-day Sabbath observance, i.e. resting from labor from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, is practiced by seventh-day Sabbatarians...
, watched over by ZAKA volunteers. Immediately after the end of the Sabbath, another team of ZAKA volunteers arrived from Immanuel
Immanuel (town)
Immanuel is an Israeli settlement and a town with local council status in the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics ,...
and the wider region were dispatched to Itamar. ZAKA volunteers collected all human remains and cleaned up the scene. Dr. Yehuda Hiss
Yehuda Hiss
Yehuda Hiss is the chief pathologist at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine and has held this position since 1988...
of the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute
Abu Kabir Forensic Institute
L. Greenberg National Institute of Forensic Medicine also known as Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, is an Israeli forensic research laboratory located in the Abu Kabir neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel.-History:...
in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
traveled to Itamar to carry out an examination of the bodies. The procedure was supervised by the head of the ZAKA Rabbinical Council, Rabbi Ya'akov Roget.
Victims
The victims of the attack are Ehud "Udi" Fogel, age 36, the son of Gush EmunimGush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
activists from Neve Tzuf, Ruth Fogel, age 35, the daughter of a Jerusalem rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, and three of their six children, Yoav, age 11, Elad, age 4, and three months old Hadas.
The Fogel family had recently settled in Itamar. They previously lived in the Gush Katif
Gush Katif
Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza strip. Gush Katif was specifically mentioned by Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who fell victim to an assassin in 1995, as essential to Israel's security border. In August 2005, the Israeli army moved the 8,600...
settlement of Netzarim
Netzarim (settlement)
Netzarim was formerly an Israeli settlement established in Gaza in 1972. It began as a secular Nahal outpost of the Hashomer Hatzair movement; in 1984 it became an orthodox kibbutz. A few years later, the residents decided to change from a kibbutz to a village...
in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. After Israel evacuated
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
its Gaza settlements in 2005, they moved to the settlement of Ariel
Ariel (city)
Ariel is an Israeli settlement and a city in the West Bank. Ariel was established in 1978. Its population at the end of 2009 was 17,600, including 7,000 immigrants who came to Israel after 1990. It is the fourth largest Jewish settlement city in the West Bank., after Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit,...
, and in 2009 to Itamar, where Udi Fogel worked as teacher at the post-high school yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
.
Three of the family's children, Tamar, age 12, Roi, age 6, and Yishai, age 2 have survived physically unharmed. They are being cared for by grandparents in the aftermath of the attack. Twelve-year-old Tamar is quoted as having promised her relatives: "I will be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings."
Funeral
The funeral of the five victims on Sunday, 13 March at Har HaMenuchotHar HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south.-History:...
Cemetery in Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul
Givat Shaul is a neighborhood in western Jerusalem named after the Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and not, as commonly believed, for the biblical King Saul, whose capital was probably located on the hill Gibeah of Saul near Pisgat Ze'ev, on the way...
, Jerusalem, was attended by some 20,000 people and broadcast on Israeli television. Speakers included former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau
Yisrael Meir Lau
Yisrael Meir Lau is the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Chairman of Yad Vashem. He previously served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003.-Biography:...
, quoted as saying: "We will not bend, we will not give up, we returned to the land of our fathers and it is our home, and the children shall return within their borders and nothing will prevent our faith in the righteousness of our path", Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger
Yona Metzger
Yona Metzger is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. His counterpart is Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel since their appointments in 2003.-Background:...
, who, linking the murderers to Amalek
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....
, stated that "Itamar needs to become a major city in Israel as a response to this murder", and Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
Speaker Reuven Rivlin
Reuven Rivlin
Reuven "Rubi" Rivlin is an Israeli lawyer, politician, currently serving as a speaker of the Knesset. He belongs to conservative Likud. A former Speaker of the Knesset, in 2007 he ran in the election for President as the Likud candidate...
, whose final remarks were: "Build more, live more, more footholds – that is our response to the murderers so that they know – they can't defeat us".
Ruth Fogel's father was quoted as having said: "Our children are prepared to be sacrificed as an offering at the altar we have to continue to build to bring redemption. Udi and Ruthie wanted this redemption."
Udi Fogel's brother Motti Fogel spoke out against the use that has been made of the murder of the family: "All the slogans about Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and settlement, the Land of Israel and the people of Israel are attempts to forget the simple and pain-torn fact: you are dead. You are dead, and no slogan will bring you back. You are not a symbol or a national event. Your life was a purpose in and of itself, and it should be forbidden for your terrible death to turn your life into some sort of tool."
Following the end of the 30-day mourning period, a memorial service was held in Itamar, where the cornerstone for a new kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
to be named after Udi Fogel was laid. Hundreds of people attended, including Sephardi Chief Rabbi Moshe Amar
Moshe Amar
Moshe Amar is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment between 1977 and 1981.-Biography:Born in Safed during the Mandate era, Amar studied at the Scottish College High School in Safed and then at the School for Jurisprudence, and was certified as a...
, Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
members Tzipi Hotovely
Tzipi Hotovely
Tzipi Hotovely is an Israeli politician, lawyer, and a doctorate student at the Faculty of Law in Tel Aviv University. She practises Orthodox Judaism and is a member of the Knesset as a self-described "religious rightwinger" for the Likud party. When first elected at the age of 30, she was the...
(Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
) and Uri Ariel
Uri Ariel
Uri Yehuda Ariel is an Israeli politician who current serves as a member of the Knesset for the National Union.-Biography:Born in Afula, Ariel served in a combat unit called Palsar 7 in the Israel Defense Forces and retired as a major...
(National Union
National Union (Israel)
The National Union is an alliance of nationalist political parties in Israel. In the 2009 elections the National Union consisted of four parties: Moledet, Hatikva, Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, and Tkuma.-Background:...
), and Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan. Many participants signed a Megillah scroll, which was recited by former Military Rabbinate
Military Rabbinate
The Military Rabbinate is a corps in the Israel Defense Forces that provides religious services to soldiers, primarily to Jews but also including non-Jews, and makes decisions on issues of religion and military affairs. The Military Rabbinate is headed by the Chief Military Rabbi, who is ranked a...
Chief and Yeshiva head Avichai Rontzki
Avichai Rontzki
Rabbi Avichai Rontzki , born October 10, 1951, is the former Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defence Forces. He served in the position from 2006 to 2010, with a rank of Brigadier General. His predecessor in that position was Rabbi Israel Weiss. Rontzki is also the rosh yeshiva of the Hesder...
before being placed within the foundations of the new kollel.
Manhunt and capture
Following the attack, from the Israel Defense ForcesIsrael Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) and Israel Police
Israel Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
arrived in Itamar and conducted a search across the village of Itamar. The Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
used UAV
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
s for aerial surveillance of the area. Israeli authorities declared the nearby West Bank city of Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
a closed military zone. Israeli troops set up checkpoints on the roads leading to the city and prevented vehicles and pedestrians from leaving or entering, according to Palestinians. Residential areas were placed under curfew, and Israeli troops conducted house-to-house searches. The previously-dismantled Huwwara Checkpoint was re-established.
An initial probe suggested two perpetrators entered Itamar shortly after 9 pm, jumping over the settlement's security fence, and remained in the settlement for three hours without being noticed. Due to the characteristics of the killings, the IDF estimated that the attack was not carried out by an organized terrorist infrastructure but was the work of one or two people, presumably Palestinian. Israeli authorities initially suspected that the killings may have been in revenge for the killing of two Palestinian teenagers from Awarta
Awarta
Awarta is a Palestinian town located southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007...
, who were shot dead near Itamar in 2010.
In Itamar, the Fogel family home was cordoned off by red tape and guarded by soldiers. A forensics team probed the home, collecting evidence left behind by the killers.
An IDF tracker spotted indications that the perpetrators had scaled the fence, and found footprints and equipment abandoned by the killers leading out of Itamar. The tracker, accompanied by an IDF force, followed the tracks to the Palestinian village of Awarta
Awarta
Awarta is a Palestinian town located southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007...
. IDF troops entered the town of Burqa
Burqa, Nablus
Burqa is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 18 kilometers northwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics , the town had a population of 4,030 inhabitants in mid-year 2006....
, northwest of Nablus, searching houses and questioning residents. They did not make any arrests. IDF soldiers and Israel Border Police
Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav , meaning border guard, whilst its members are colloquially known as Magavnikim . Border Guard is often used as the official name of the...
gendarmes also entered the villages of Sanur
Sanur, Jenin
Sanur is a Palestinian town located 26 kilometers southwest of Jenin, in the Jenin Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Sanur had a population of 4,300 inhabitants, in mid-year 2006.-Bibliography:...
and Zababdeh
Zababdeh
Zababdeh or Zababida is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located 15 km southeast of Jenin and 2 km from the Arab American University - Jenin. Its jurisdiction consists of 5,719 dunams, three-fifths being covered with olive and fig groves...
, arresting several dozen Palestinians.
A gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
was imposed on the investigation.
Awarta
Awarta
Awarta is a Palestinian town located southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007...
was placed under curfew and declared a closed military zone. IDF troops and Israel Border Police
Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav , meaning border guard, whilst its members are colloquially known as Magavnikim . Border Guard is often used as the official name of the...
conducted mass arrests of residents throughout the following days. According to Palestinian sources, all men from Awarta were questioned. Residents reported constant door-to-door searches, with some homes being searched up to three times. According to witness reports, Israeli armored vehicles patrolled the village's streets, and troops were deployed on the hilltops around the village. The city of Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
remained under closure, but four days after the murders, a food delivery was permitted into the city. On 29 March 2011, the IDF initiated a second wave of arrests in Awarta, detaining 60 Palestinians, including the Deputy Mayor of Awarta, and collecting DNA samples. About 20 were immediately released following DNA testing, and another 40 were interrogated. A week later, AFP
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
reported that the IDF arrested more than 100 women from the village, placing them in a camp where they were fingerprinted and DNA samples were taken, before most of them were released.
On 11 April, daily IDF raids continued in the village, and troops continued to maintain roadblocks at the entrance. According to allegations by Israeli leftists and Awarta residents, soldiers humiliated residents and damaged property. Palestinian officials claimed that Israel had seized land around the village to expand nearby settlements. The Palestinian Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
condemned the raids and called on the international community to pressure Israel into halting them.
Shin Bet questioned numerous Awarta villagers who had been arrested, with some residents who had been arrested and released being again questioned by Shin Bet investigators. Meanwhile, the IDF continued to question residents in various parts of Awarta. The interrogations produced various leads, but slowly, the circle of potential suspects was narrowed. At this stage, the IDF's elite Duvdevan Unit
Duvdevan Unit
Duvdevan is an elite special forces unit within the Israel Defense Forces, directly subordinate to the West Bank Division and the Paratroopers Brigade. Duvdevan are particularly noted for conducting undercover operations against militants in urban areas...
and the Israel Police
Israel Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
's special undercover unit began making secret arrests of suspects, and interrogations of the suspects produced additional intelligence information. Hakim Awad was arrested on 5 April, but initially said nothing, and started to cooperae only after more information pointed to him. Amjad Awad was arrested on 10 April. In addition to information gathered from interrogations, evidence gathered by the forensics team that had searched the Fogel family home linked them to the killings. The two were identified as the perpetrators, and kept in custody pending trial. On 17 April, it was officially cleared for publication that Amjad and Hakim Awad had been identified as the killers. Both suspects confessed to the killings and offered a detailed account. They expressed no remorse for their actions, and performed a reenactment of the attack before security officials. Amjad Awad declared that he was proud of what he did and had no regrets, even if he was sentenced to death.
Subsequently, Hakim's father, two uncles, and brother were arrested for hiding the murder weapons and suppressing additional evidence. Israeli security forces also arrested arrested the PFLP militant who they had approached for weapons, and raided the Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
home of Jad Avid, Salah Awad's contact, who had hidden the two stolen assault rifles following the attack. Avid was arrested, and both of the assault rifles were found in his home.
Trial and conviction
On 26 May 2011, the Judea and Samaria Sector Military Court extended the remand of Amjad Mahmad Awad and Hakim Mazen Awad for eleven days. The Military Prosecution informed the court that it would file an official indictment at their next arraignment.The Military Prosecution considered requesting the death penalty, due to the extreme nature of the attack.
On 5 June 2011, Amjad and Hakim Awad were indicted before the Judea and Samaria Sector Military Court on five counts of murder, stealing weapons, breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The suspects confessed to the murder and the military prosecution in the case say there is forensic evidence linking them to the scene of the crime, including DNA samples and fingerprints. According to a senior Shin Bet official involved in the investigation, despite the suspects' young age, Hakim and Amjad "described what they did with self-control and did not express regret over their actions at any stage of the investigation." Amjad told reporters in the court "I don't regret what I did and I would do it again. I'm proud of what I did and I'll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine".
Hakim Awad was found guilty of the murder of five members of the Fogel family in August 2011. He was also convicted for weapons-related and other security offenses. In September 2011 he was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences and another five years in prison. Prior to the sentencing Awad declared he was not sorry and claimed he murdered the five "because of the occupation." In October 2011, Amjad Awad pled guilty to five counts of murder.
Israeli authorities
In response to the Itamar attack, on 13 March, the Israeli cabinetCabinet of Israel
The Cabinet of Israel is a formal body composed of government officials called ministers, chosen and led by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister must appoint members based on the distribution of votes to political parties during legislative elections, and its composition must be approved by a...
approved the construction of 500 housing units in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
settlements and settlement blocs of Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestinian territories. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and ...
, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel
Ariel (city)
Ariel is an Israeli settlement and a city in the West Bank. Ariel was established in 1978. Its population at the end of 2009 was 17,600, including 7,000 immigrants who came to Israel after 1990. It is the fourth largest Jewish settlement city in the West Bank., after Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit,...
and Modi'in Illit
Modi'in Illit
Modi'in Illit is a Haredi Israeli settlement and a city in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Modi'in Illit was granted city status by the Israeli government in 2008. It is located six kilometres northeast of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut and is often referred to as Kiryat...
, areas of the West Bank that Israel intends to keep under any permanent accord with the Palestinians. The decision was taken in a late-night cabinet meeting, in which both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
and Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
took part, after several alternatives, such as starting a new settlement or widening the settlement of Itamar, were rejected. The decision brought harsh criticism from both the Palestinians and the United States. A spokesperson from the U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
told the Jewish Week that the "United States is deeply concerned by continuing Israeli actions with respect to settlements in the West Bank" and that "[c]ontinued Israeli settlements are illegitimate and run counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
, visiting relatives of the victims, told the mourners: "They shoot and we build".
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Itamar three days after the massacre. After visiting the Fogel home, he said "you enter and see the sign 'Happy birthday for your new baby girl', then see this pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
. The same sights we once read about only in books is found here at the heart of a Jewish community". Lieberman emphasized that it was the Israeli government's duty to ensure the security of its citizens, called on the Palestinian Authority to stop incitement, and urged Israeli political rather than security concessions in negotiation with the Palestinians, claiming that Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
would take over the West Bank once Israel withdrew. However, Lieberman stressed his opposition to of the death penalty being imposed on the perpetrators, claiming that "we should not be guided by revenge".
On 4 April 2011, a new bill that would prohibit the murderers of children from being included in any prisoner exchange
Prisoner exchange
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners. These may be prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc...
s, and would prohibit the President
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
from pardoning them was proposed in the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
by MK Yoel Hasson
Yoel Hasson
Yoel Hasson is an Israeli politician and a member of the Knesset for Kadima.-Biography:Born in Tel Aviv, Hasson studied for a BA in government and public policy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. He joined the Betar movement, and was head of the national leadership of its youth movement...
(Kadima
Kadima
Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
) and co-sponsored by MKs Eitan Cabel (Labor) and Ze'ev Elkin
Ze'ev Elkin
-Biography:Born in Kharkiv in the Soviet Union , Elkin was active in the Bnei Akiva movement, becoming its general secretary of the Soviet Union branch in 1990. In December that year he immigrated to Israel....
(Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
). Several MKs also proposed legislation imposing the death penalty for terrorism.
In the aftermath of the attack, large Israeli military and police forces were deployed near Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
to prevent clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. The following day, the Israel Police
Israel Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
increased its presence in settler areas to counter possible retaliatory attacks by settlers against Palestinians. Around 100 police officers deployed in or around the Jewish Quarter and nearby Arab neighborhoods of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
and the nearby town of Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba , lit. "Town of the Four," is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Mountains region of the West Bank on the edge of Hebron. Its settlers consist of a mix of Russian immigrants, American immigrants, and native-born Israelis numbering close to 10,000...
. IDF and Police forces also deployed in major intersections throughout the West Bank.
Israeli civilians
According to Palestinian sources and the BBC, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian property and residents in villages near Nablus, in parts of Hebron, and in areas around BethlehemBethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
and Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
. The BBC characterized the attacks as acts of revenge for the Fogel murders. Israeli settlers handed out leaflets threatening the lives of villagers in Beitillu, near Ramallah, and vandalized Palestinian property in Hebron. Settlers blocked a junction in Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestinian territories. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and ...
, and threw stones at Palestinians. Several were arrested by IDF and police forces deployed on the scene. Israeli activists blocked an intersection near Psagot
Psagot
Psagot is a communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank located north of Jerusalem on Tawil hill adjacent to Ramallah, al-Bireh, and Kokhav Ya'akov. Psagot, established in 1981, falls under the jurisdiction of Binyamin Regional Council, with the council's headquarters located there...
on Highway 60
Highway 60 (Israel)
Highway 60 is a north-south intercity road in Israel and the West Bank that stretches from Beersheba to Nazareth.-Route:The route is also known as the "Route of the Patriarchs" since it follows the path of the ancient highway that runs along the length of the central watershed, and which...
. Palestinians reported that settlers from Bat Ayin
Bat Ayin
Bat Ayin is a village and an Israeli settlement and in Gush Etzion, on the edge of the Judean hills in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Hebron. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council...
took part in the protest, and that Israeli Police had fired tear gas at Palestinians on the site. Palestinians also claimed that settlers entered the village of Huwwara and threw stones at residents. Settlers near Nablus and in the Kedumim
Kedumim
Kedumim , also spelled Qedumim, is an Israeli settlement and a town located in the Samarian hills of the West Bank that was founded during Hanukkah 1975 and now enjoys the municipal status of local council. Founded in 1975 by members of the Gush Emunim settlement movement, its current population is...
area stoned and burned Palestinian vehicles, and reportedly blocked the Jit Junction. Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh, Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the settlement of Yitzhar
Yitzhar
Yitzhar is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank south of the city of Nablus just off Route 60, north of the Tapuach Junction. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community with a population of 895 is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council...
, a settlement located close to Itamar, issued a statement calling for the demolition of houses in a village near Itamar every 30 minutes until the residents turn the perpetrators in, and to "kill the murderers immediately after they are turned in".
Small demonstrations against the attack broke out in Israel on 13 March. Dozens of demonstrators protested in the Horev, Tzabar, Megiddo
Megiddo Junction
The Megiddo Junction is an intersection of Highways 65 and 66 in northern Israel, located near kibbutz Megiddo. A major landmark is a large prison . Nearby are the sites of some ancient battles of Megiddo and the ruins of Megiddo .The five kilometre stretch of Highway 65 east towards Afula is...
, and Azrieli Junctions, carrying signs proclaiming "we are settlers too" and "peace isn't signed with blood". Numerous drivers honked their car horns in solidarity. Several dozen right-wing activists also protested near Jerusalem, chanting "revenge" and "death to Arabs", and carrying signs reading "the government destroys communities – the Arabs murder Jews". The following day, dozens of students from Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
protested near Highway 4
Highway 4 (Israel)
Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip...
, chanting "enough to violence and incitement – talk to humans not murderers".
On 14 March, settlers clashed with Palestinians near Nablus, which ended after Israeli troops dispersed the Palestinians with live fire. An Israeli settler and ten Palestinians were wounded during the clashes. Three days later, two Palestinian workers employed in the settlement of Shilo were attacked by masked men armed with iron rods and pepper spray, as was an Israeli securtiy guard who attempted to protect them.
On 16 March, some 200 settlers marched from Itamar into Awarta to protest the killings. Fourteen entered the village and threw stones at homes. IDF soldiers and Border Police gendarmes dispersed the rioters. A number of settlers also marched up a hill near Itamar to support the construction of a new settlement outpost there.
An opinion poll conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research is a Palestinian research organisation and think tank based in Ramallah established for "advancing scholarship and knowledge on immediate issues of concern to Palestinians in three areas: domestic politics and government, strategic analysis and...
found, according to the groups, "In light of the attack in Itamar, 59% among Israelis oppose and 33% support the government policy to relax the security measures in the West Bank such as the removal of road blocks." The groups asked 601 adult Israelis interviewed by phone in Hebrew, Arabic, or Russian between 21 and 28 March 2011.
On 16 March Haaretz reported that residents of Itamar were undertaking the construction of a new outpost, unofficially named "Aryeh." "Aryeh" is Hebrew for lion, as well as an approximate acronym for the names Udi, Ruth, Yoav, Elad and Hadas, the five victims of the attack. On 1 November, Aryeh was demolished by Israeli Civil Administration personnel backed by IDF troops and police officers. During the demolition operation, three permanent structures, two makeshift structures and a synagogue were razed. A control panel and the electricity system that powered a security camera purchased by the Shomron Regional Council were also destroyed, and a security official claimed that the electric system was illegal and was destroyed to protect Civil Administration personnel from being electrocuted. Settlers claimed that three Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
scrolls were confiscated.
Palestinians
Palestinians threw stones at Israeli vehicles in the West Bank, including buses returning from the funeral of the victims. Some Palestinian residents of the village of Awarta, who had previously clashed with settlers from Itamar for a number of years, denounced the killings.A paramedic interviewed in an Israeli newspaper stated that on the day of the attack, settlers saw fireworks and celebrations in nearby Palestinian communities. In the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, the killings sparked celebrations in the city of Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
, where Palestinians handed out candy and sweets on the streets. A resident described the celebrations as "a natural response to the harm settlers inflict on the Palestinian residents in the West Bank".
MEMRI
Middle East Media Research Institute
The Middle East Media Research Institute is a Middle Eastern not for profit press monitoring organization with headquarters located in Washington, DC. MEMRI was co-founded in 1998 by Yigal Carmon, a former colonel in the Israeli military intelligence and Meyrav Wurmser, an Israeli-born, American...
, commenting on reactions to the murders in the Palestinian media, stated that while a Hamas website praised the murders, in the rest of the Palestinian media the murder of children ("even of settlers") was strongly condemned as unequivocally immoral and contrary to Palestinian values, and as doing nothing to help the Palestinian cause. One editorial, for example, stated: "Stabbing an infant to death is a crime against humanity. Whoever did this was insane, or charged with racist assumptions. This is not nationalist; there is no connection between the murder of the infant in the settlement of Itamar and the values of our people's struggle." Many questioned whether such a murderer could be Palestinian. The PLO condemned the murders and accused Israel of jumping to the conclusion that the perpetrator was Palestinian and of exploiting the tragedy for its own political gains. A Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
article also reported that Palestinians in newspapers and on social networking sites condemned the attack while also criticizing settlers and the Israeli government's declaration of new settlement units in retaliation.
An opinion poll conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research is a Palestinian research organisation and think tank based in Ramallah established for "advancing scholarship and knowledge on immediate issues of concern to Palestinians in three areas: domestic politics and government, strategic analysis and...
found that 63% of Palestinians surveyed opposed the attack while 32% supported. The groups interviewed 1,270 adults face-to-face in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
, and Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
from 17 to 19 March 2011.
American
A memorial service for the Fogel family was held at New York's Congregation Kehilath JeshurunCongregation Kehilath Jeshurun
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun is a Modern Orthodox synagogue, located on East 85th Street on the Upper East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The synagogue was founded in 1872...
a week after the attack. It was attended by 1,000 local residents, with 2,000 more viewing a live broadcast over the internet. President of the New York Board of Rabbis
New York Board of Rabbis
The New York Board of Rabbis is an organization of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist rabbis in New York State and the surrounding portions of Connecticut and New Jersey....
Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier said of the victims that they "were treated as criminals for settling and building beautiful lives in the heartland of our ancestral holy land." Pastor of the Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem, Reverend Jacques DeGraff, told the gathered mourners, "I'm here today because it is not enough for the friends of Israel to issue a statement." The service was jointly sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Consulate General of Israel in New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the UJA-Federation
United Jewish Communities
The Jewish Federations of North America , is an American Jewish umbrella organization representing 157 Jewish Federations and the Network of Independent Communities, 400 smaller Jewish communities across North America. The JFNA was formed from the 1999 merger of the United Jewish Appeal, the...
of New York, and Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun.
Gary Rosenblatt
Gary Rosenblatt
Gary Rosenblatt is the editor and publisher of The Jewish Week of New York, a position he has held since 1993. Previously he was the editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times for 19 years.-Early career:...
, editor-in-chief of The Jewish Week
The Jewish Week
The Jewish Week is an independent weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. The Jewish Week covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC and has world-wide distribution.-Editorial staff:...
, commented that reactions to the Itamar killings may have been more muted given that the victims were religious Israelis living in a small West Bank settlement. He stated that if the victims had been secular Jews living inside the Green Line
Green Line (Israel)
Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
"outrage would have been far greater".
Italian
A delegation of Italian Jews from Rome visited Itamar on 30 March and extended a donation of €25,000 to support the three surviving children of the Fogel family. President of the Jewish community of Rome Riccardo Pacifici said, "We come with a message of solidarity and support."Finnish
A team of Finnish performers wrote a song in memory of the Fogel family for the annual Benei AkivaBnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
Jewish Eurovision contest, held this year in Rome, Italy. The team was inspired by the fact that daughter Tamar Fogel's life was spared owing to her being out of the house at the time of the attack, attending a Benei Akiva event.
Official reactions
Involved parties Israel:
- President Shimon PeresShimon PeresGCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
said, "This is one of the ugliest and most difficult events that we have known, the murder of parents with their small children – among them a three-year-old boy, and a five-month-old baby girl – while they were sleeping in their beds. It shows the loss of humanity... There is no religion in the world, no faith that allows for such horrendous acts." - Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin NetanyahuBenjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
stated that he was "deeply shocked" and that he stands behind the residents of Judea and SamariaJudea and SamariaJudea and Samaria Area is the official Israeli term roughly corresponding to the territory usually known outside Israel as the West Bank and to the Israeli settlements there that are not governed as part of Jerusalem.-Terminology:...
, adding, "We will not allow terror to determine the settlement map." He also told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that it was not enough to condemn the violence because it "is against Palestinian interests," but because it is morally unacceptable. "I expect that you stop the incitement in the schools, school books and mosques, and educate your children toward peace, as we do. The murder of children in their sleep is murder for the sake of murder." He blamed the terror attack on continuing incitement against Jews in the Palestinian Authority. - Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited the Fogel family's home in Itamar three days after the killings and expressed his admiration for the people of Itamar, stressing that it is "the state's duty to guarantee the security of Israel's residents" and that there should be no security compromises by Israel and no retreat to the 1967 borders. Lieberman also urged the Palestinian Authority to end incitement, stating that "we cannot talk peace with anyone talking about bloodshed, hatred, and murder. We must draw conclusions on the political level".
- In what Haaretz described as "an unprecedented decision", the Israeli Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein decided to release horrific photographs from the scene of the attack. The photos show the stabbed and bleeding bodies of the members of the Fogel family, with only their faces blurred, as requested by their relatives. Although the photographs were distributed to the international media, no serious news organization has published them to date.
- IDF Chief of Staff, Rav Aluf Benny Gantz, visited Itamar the day after the attack and vowed, "We will not rest until we lay our hands on the murderers. This incident is atrocious, its perpetrators capable of beastly crimes." At a meeting of the IDF senior command early the following week, Gantz remarked, "I have seen many things in my life but I have never encountered such inhumanity."
- Opposition leader Tzipi LivniTzipi LivniTzipporah Malkah "Tzipi" Livni is an Israeli lawyer and politician. She is the current Israeli Opposition Leader and leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Knesset. Raised an ardent nationalist, Livni has become one of her nation's leading voices for the two-state solution. In Israel she has...
expressed outrage over the attack but criticized the government decision to approve 500 housing units in Judea and Samaria as a response to the terror attack, because she felt it links the building to terror. - Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmad TibiAhmad TibiAhmad Tibi is an Arab-Israeli politician and leader of Ta'al , an Arab party in Israel. He currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. He was elected on a joint ticket with the United Arab List to serve in Israel's parliament, the Knesset...
called the perpetrator a "coward", and said that "the Palestinian nation is ashamed of such people, who distort its image and its righteous struggle to free itself of the occupation. A struggle must be moral, conscionable, and fair. There are rules to the struggle against the occupation".
Palestinian territories:
- Palestinian AuthorityPalestinian National AuthorityThe Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
President Mahmoud AbbasMahmoud AbbasMahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
telephoned Prime Minister Netanyahu to condemn the attack. In an interview with Israel Radio, he called it a despicable, immoral, and inhuman act, saying, "A human being is not capable of something like that." "Scenes like these – the murder of infants and children and a woman slaughtered – cause any person endowed with humanity to hurt and to cry." Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu praised Abbas for condemning the murders but said that he must make his condemnation in Palestinian media as well. During the opening session of the PLO Central Council, Abbas accused Israel of always rushing to blame the Palestinians, and stated that "the facts are still unknown, yet, Israel insists on its position before the facts are known". Abbas also said that Israeli settlers in the West Bank were responsible for crimes against the Palestinians on a daily basis, and that "the international community and the public in Israel should talk about these crimes, and identify them as crimes", also adding that this issue does not justify the attack. - Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam FayyadSalam FayyadSalam Fayyad is a Palestinian politician and Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority of the Palestinian National Authority. His first appointment, on 15 June 2007, which was justified by President Mahmoud Abbas on the basis of "national emergency", has not been confirmed by the...
said he "clearly and firmly denounces the terror attack, just as I have denounced crimes against Palestinians." During a tour in Bethlehem he said, "We are against all types of violence." "Our position has not changed. As we have said many times before, we categorically oppose violence and terror, regardless of the identity of the victims or the perpetrators." - Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-MalikiRiyad al-MalikiRiyad Al-Maliki is former Minister of Information, Government Spokesperson, and Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian National Authority in its 12th Government, and resumed office as Foreign Affairs Minister in the current 13th Government....
rejected accusations that Palestinians were behind the attack, stating that "killing an infant and slaughtering four other people from the same family in such a way had never been done by a Palestinian under any name for revenge. This would leave so many question marks on why the Israelis had immediately accused the Palestinians of committing it." - According to the Palestinian Authority-run news website WAFAWafa'Wafa' , also known as the Palestine News Agency, is the news agency of the Palestinian National Authority, and was "the P.L.O.'s news agency" in the years before the formation of the P.A....
, "Israeli authorities ordered the publishing of bloody photos of the murders, using them to blackmail Abbas and pressure him to resume negotiations, although Netanyahu knows that the killer is not anonymous anymore and for sure not a Palestinian". - Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Habbash condemned the attack as "a big crime against civilians in their homes, an inhuman crime." In a telephone interview with the Jerusalem Post Habbash insisted that the Palestinians "are against such crimes from both sides, and against any murders, whether from the Palestinian or Israeli side. We want to see all the civilians living in peace in the Holy Land."
- HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
official Ezzat Al-Rashak denied Hamas' responsibility for the attack, saying, "harming children is not part of Hamas' policy, nor is it the policy of the opposition factions." Rashak also raised the possibility that the attack was carried out by settlers. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu ZuhriSami Abu ZuhriSami Abu Zuhri is a senior spokesman for the Palestinian political party Hamas. Zuhri, a relatively unknown member of Hamas, gained notoriety on May 19, 2006, when Palestinian security and customs officials discovered he had 640,000 euros on his person; another report claimed he held a larger sum...
said that Hamas supported "the resistance against settlers who murder and use crime and terror against the Palestinian people under the auspices of the Israeli occupation soldiers". - The Islamic Jihad Movement in PalestineIslamic Jihad Movement in PalestineThe Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...
called it "a heroic attack," saying that "this attack is a proof that the Palestinians are able to go ahead with armed resistance and overcome all difficulties to reach the targets."
Intergovernmental organizations: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
's office published a statement saying, "The Secretary-General condemns last night's shocking murder of an Israeli family of five, including three children, in a West Bank settlement. He calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, and for all to act with restraint."
- Quartet on the Middle EastQuartet on the Middle EastThe Quartet on the Middle East, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet are the United Nations, the...
representative Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
said, "this brutal and appalling murder is shocking and deplorable," and sent his "deepest condolences and sympathy to those remaining members of the family and to the community."
International: The Australian government condemned the attack and extended its condolences to the surviving family members and friends. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
called the attack "a despicable act of terrorism" and said, "There can be no justification for the brutal murder of three innocent children and their parents.": The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
FPS Foreign Affairs Belgium
The FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation , more commonly known as the FPS Foreign Affairs, is a Federal Public Service of Belgium. It was created by Royal Order on March 8, 2002, as part of the plans of the first Verhofstadt Government to modernise the federal administration...
issued a statement broadly condemning "the outburst of violence in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," referring to the attack in Itamar, a subsequent bomb attack in Jerusalem, violence in the Gaza Strip, and missile attacks against Israeli citizens from Gaza. The statement said that Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere
Steven Vanackere
Steven Vanackere, born 4 February 1964 in Wevelgem, Belgium, is a Flemish politician, member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish Party . He holds the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Reform in the Leterme II Government...
"very firmly condemns the use of any violence against civilians. It is intolerable to inflict terror by using random violence, endangering the lives of children, women and men.": Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon
Lawrence Cannon
Lawrence Cannon, PC is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. On October 30, 2008 he was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs...
said in a statement, "The brutal killing of five Israelis, including children, cannot be justified." He called the atrocities "heinous acts of terror" and demanded the full cooperation of the Palestinian Authority in holding the murderers accountable.: Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias
Dimitris Christofias
Dimitris Christofias also Demetris is a left-wing Greek Cypriot politician and the current and sixth President of the Republic of Cyprus. Christofias was the General Secretary of AKEL and is Cyprus's first, and the European Union's first and so far only, communist head of state. He won the 2008...
condemned the attack, calling its perpetrators "inhuman", and expressed condolences to the family and to the people of Israel.: Foreign Minister Alain Juppé
Alain Juppé
Alain Marie Juppé is a French politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac and the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs from 2010 to 2011...
said that "France utterly condemns the assassination of five members of an Israeli family yesterday in the settlement of Itamar, on the West Bank. Among the victims of this barbarous act were three children, including a baby", and offered his condolences to the family of the victims and the Israeli authorities. Juppé further stated that France "condemns all acts of violence in the occupied territories and calls for maximum restraint in order to prevent deterioration in the situation. The quest for peace through negotiations must prevail." The French consul-general in Jerusalem, Frédérique Desagleau, attended the funeral of the five victims. French Ambassador to Israel Christine Bigot visited the parents of Ruth Fogel to present condolences.: Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle [] is a German liberal politician, who, since 28 October 2009, has been serving as the Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and who was Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011. He is the first openly gay person to hold either of those positions...
condemned the "cruel and heinous" slayings, saying, "nothing can justify such attacks.": Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregory Delavekouras stated that "we unequivocally codemn the murder of a five-member Israeli family – including three young children – and express our deep condolences and support to the relatives and friends. The murder of children in their sleep is an inconceivably ungodly, inhuman, and barbarous act", and called for the murderers to be brought to justice immediately. The statement also urged the peace process to continue and reiterated that the settlements were illegal, but stated that "any act of violence against civilians is condemnable, whatever its source".: Irish Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the Leader of the Labour Party since September 2007, and a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 1989, first with the Workers' Party of Ireland, and...
, condemned the murder of the Fogel family, calling it "an appalling act of violence" and "a senseless atrocity." Gilmore urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume direct peace talks and move toward "a just settlement, based on two States living side by side.": Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
, Gianfranco Fini
Gianfranco Fini
Gianfranco Fini is an Italian politician, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, leader of the center-right Future and Freedom party, and the former leader of the conservative National Alliance and the post-fascist Italian Social Movement...
, telephoned his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin, and denounced the attack as a "most terrible and tragic event." He offered condolences on behalf of the Italian people to the bereaved family and to the entire people of Israel.: The Japanese Foreign Ministry stated that "Japan strongly condemns the murder which occurred 12 March in Itamar, northern West Bank. Japan expresses its heartfelt sympathy for the victims and sends condolences to the bereaved relatives. Such an act cannot be justified for any reason, and any attempt to justify violence is unacceptable.": The Dutch Foreign Ministry expressed "outrage" at the killings, stating that "a crime like this can never be justified", called for all perpetrators to be brought to justice, and urged the Palestinian Authority to cooperate in arresting the suspects. It also stressed that it agreed with the Quartet in stressing the importance of achieving peace between Israel and it's neighbors. Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal
Uri Rosenthal
Uriël "Uri" Rosenthal is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 14, 2010 in the Cabinet Rutte. He served as a Member of the Senate from June 8, 1999 until October 14, 2010. And the Parliamentary leader in the Senate...
offered condolences to the victims' family and Israel.: Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre
Jonas Gahr Støre
Jonas Gahr Støre is the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, having been appointed to Jens Stoltenberg's second cabinet on 17 October 2005. He represents the Norwegian Labour Party.-Personal life:...
released a statement saying, "I condemn the brutal killing of a family of six Israelis in the West Bank. This is a criminal act, and those responsible must be brought to justice as soon as possible.": The Foreign Ministry of Spain issued a statement condemning the attack "in the most energetic terms" and expressed hope that it would not lead to an escalation of violence in the region.: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
Ahmet Davutoglu
Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu is a Turkish political scientist, an academic and an ambassador. On May 1, 2009, he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey after being the chief advisor to the Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey.-Life and career:...
published a message on the ministry's website calling the attack "unacceptable." He stressed that the "act of terror, against innocent children is a crime that violates the most basic of rights, the right to life.": Foreign Secretary William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
said, "The friends and relatives of the family killed in Itamar have my deepest sympathies. This was an act of incomprehensible cruelty and brutality which I utterly condemn. We hope the perpetrator is swiftly brought to justice.": White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
spokesman Jay Carney
Jay Carney
James "Jay" Carney is an American journalist and President Barack Obama's second White House Press Secretary. Prior to his appointment as Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs, he was director of communications to Vice President Joe Biden...
said, "There is no possible justification for the killing of parents and children in their home. We call on the Palestinian Authority to unequivocally condemn this terrorist attack and for the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be held accountable." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the brutal murder of an Israeli family. The United States condemns this appalling attack in the strongest possible terms. To kill three innocent children and their parents while they sleep is an inhuman crime for which there can be no justification".
See also
- Itamar attack (2002)Itamar attack (2002)The Itamar attack, was an attack that took place on Thursday night of June 20th, 2002 around 21:00 in which two Palestinian militants broke into a civilian house in the Israeli settlement of Itamar in the West Bank, killing the Shabo family, murdering a mother and her three sons, while injuring two...
- August 2010 West Bank shooting attack
- List of massacres in Palestinian Territories
- List of violent incidents in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, 2011
- Metzer 2002 AttackMetzerMetzer is a kibbutz in the Menashe area of northern Israel.The kibbutz was founded on 8 September 1953 by immigrants from Argentina. In November 2002, a Palestinian terrorist infiltrated the kibbutz and murdered 5 people including a mother and her two sons. The perpetrator, Sirhan Sirhan , was...
External links
- Photos of Fogel Family Murder
- Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000 at The Israeli Ministry of Foreign AffairsMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural, and scientific relations with other countries....
- Fatal Terrorist Attacks in Israel Since the Declaration of Principles at Jewish Virtual LibraryJewish Virtual LibraryJewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise . Established in 1993, it is a comprehensive website covering Israel, the Jewish people, and Jewish culture.-History:...