JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel’s miltary reported Tuesday that the suspect believed to have shot and killed two Israeli brothers as they sat in their car in the Arab town of Huwara last month was himself killed during an Israeli Defense Forces raid in the city of Jenin.
49-year-old Fattah Hussein Kharousha died in a gun battle with members of an Israeli counter-terrorism squad. Six people died in the operation, according to Palestinian media. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded.
The brothers, Hallel and Yigal Yaniv, ages 21 and 19, were shot at close range on Feb. 26th as they sat in a traffic jam.
Anger over the murders prompted Jewish residents of Samaria to carry out vigilante attacks in Huwara, as cars and other property were set on fire, and one person died. Those attacks were denounced by many Israeli leaders.
At the brothers’ funeral, their mother, Esti Yaniv said, “There are no words to describe the disaster. Instead of taking children to the (marriage) chuppah, we bury them.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the Jenin operation, saying, “IDF soldiers, ISA agents and Israel National Counter-Terroriosm Unit officers have eliminated the abhorrent terrorist who murdered the two wonderful brothers, Hallel and Yigal Yaniv, in cold blood.”
He added, “I commend (the soldiers) and send my best wishes for a swift recovery to our wounded. As I have said repeatedly: whoever harms us will pay the price.”
The Jenin raid centered on an apartment block, and an intensive firefight ensued. At least two of the dead were reported to be from terror group Hamas, while others were identified as members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Security forces also conducted a raid in Nablus, arresting two sons of the Yaniv brothers’ killer.
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