Israel returns bodies of Hadar Cohen’s killers to families

3 Palestinians who carried out Jerusalem attack handed over for burial after relatives promise to prevent funeral rallies

By ToI Staff 5 February 2016, 5:04 pm

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Medics carry the bodies of two Palestinian attackers killed during a shooting and stabbing assault at Damascus Gate, outside Jerusalem's Old City on February 3, 2016. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Israel on Friday returned the bodies of three terrorists who killed a Border Police officer earlier in the week to their families.

Military officials told Channel 2 news that the bodies were returned after the families promised the funerals of the three would not be transformed into rallies of incitement to further violence.

The three attackers, Ahmed Abou Al-Roub, Mohammed Kameel and Ahmad Rajeh Ismail Zakarneh of Qabatiya in the northern West Bank, carried out Wednesday’s attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, in which 19-year-old Hadar Cohen was killed. A second policewoman was seriously injured.

The three were shot and killed by security forces.

The ID cards of the three Palestinians who stabbed and fired at Border Policewomen at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on February 3, 2016, killing Hadar Cohen (Channel 2 screenshot)

The Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported that Qabatiya was under closure by Israeli forces for a second consecutive day on Friday, following the attack.

Border Police officer Hadar Cohen, 19, was killed in a terror attack at Damascus Gate outside of Jerusalem's Old City on February 3, 2016. (Israel Police) — Border Police officer Hadar Cohen, 19, was killed in a terror attack at Damascus Gate outside of Jerusalem’s Old City on February 3, 2016. (Israel Police)

The return of the bodies came as Arab Knesset members clashed with other Israeli politicians over their meeting with the families of Palestinian terrorists. The meeting drew condemnation from across the Israeli political spectrum.

“We are defending national and human dignity. It is our duty and our right,” MK Hanin Zoabi wrote in Arabic on Facebook on Friday. “The real crime is holding onto bodies. It is our duty to do our utmost to get the bodies released.”

The lawmaker was referring to Israel’s policy of delaying the return of bodies of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks on Israelis, in an effort to prevent their funerals from becoming a source of further incitement to violence.

The relatives asked the MKs to help them pressure the government to release the terrorists’ bodies for burial. The request by the families was transferred to the Public Security Ministry, a Balad party spokeswoman said.

The 3 Palestinians who killed Hadar Cohen in a January 3, 2016 attack at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, as shown in Palestinian media. Text reads: "Martyr" Ahmad Zakarneh,"Martyr" Muhammad Kmeil, and "Martyr" Ahmad Abu Al-Rub (Palestinian Media Watch) — The 3 Palestinians who killed Hadar Cohen in a January 3, 2016 attack at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, as shown in Palestinian media. Text reads: “Martyr” Ahmad Zakarneh,”Martyr” Muhammad Kmeil, and “Martyr” Ahmad Abu Al-Rub (Palestinian Media Watch)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said Thursday that they are jointly lodging an unprecedented complaint to the Knesset’s Ethics Committee against the three, saying the meeting constituted incitement and “encouragement to murder.”

“It is inconceivable that at a time when innocent citizens are being slaughtered on the streets of Israel, these MKs go to console the families of the murderers and with unbelievable insolence dare to bring the families’ demands to the government,” Edelstein said Thursday, soon after news of the meeting was reported.

Earlier Thursday, Netanyahu called the MKs “not worthy to serve” in Israel’s parliament.

“Members of Knesset who go to comfort the families of terrorists who murdered Israelis do not deserve to be in the Israeli Knesset. I have asked the Speaker of the Knesset to examine what steps can be taken against them,” Netanyahu said in a statement.