Murder of Israeli Couple in West Bank Ambush Was Botched Kidnap Try
The four Palestinian terrorists who shot and killed the Israeli couple Eitam and Naama Henkin in a West Bank ambush originally planned to kidnap them.
New information revealed in indictments served to the four attackers on Thursday describe the violent Oct. 1 incident on the Jewish settlers in detail, the Times of Israel reported.
Yahia Muhammad Naif Abdullah Hajj Hamad, Samir Zahir Ibrahim Kusah, Karem Lufti Fatahi Razek and Zir Ziad Jamal Amar, who identified as Hamas members, followed the Henkins’ car. From the attackers’ car Hajj Hamad fired dozens of rounds at the Henkins’ car, and when the Henkins stopped, an injured Eitam Henkin tried to fight back and grab Hajj Hamad’s gun. The attackers were surprised by this and decided to kill him and his wife instead of kidnapping them.
The attackers spared the Henkins’ four children who were in the back seats.
Prosecutors found plastic wrist restraints among the attackers’ equipment, bolstering the idea that they were planning a kidnapping.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
