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| Ben-Yosef Livnat |
Three Palestinian Authority police officers were arrested and charged with murder related charges after they admitted to killing a Jewish worshipper near Yosef’s tomb in the Palestinian controlled city of Nablus, according to a statement released by Israeli officials.
The suspects under arrest have been identified as Nawaf Fahd Bani Ouda, 24, Wael Hassin Mahmoud Daoud, 24, and Tarki Diyad Tarki Zuaraa, 23. Ouda and Daoud served as armed soldiers in the Palestinian Authority, while Zuaraa served as unarmed military driver.
Two other Palestinian men believed to have participated in the attack have not been arrested.
Apparently, the suspects have admitted that they were aware that their lives were not in danger when they opened fire on the car in which Ben-Yosef Livnat, 24, and several other Israeli men were traveling.
As we reported earlier, several Palestinian men were arrested after a Knesset Member’s nephew was murdered at Joseph’s Tomb, according to a statement released by Israeli military officials.
Palestinian sources reported that one night this week, the IDF arrested three members of the Palestinian security forces in the Nablus area. The three men were involved in a shooting in 2011 in which Ben-Yosef Livnat, the nephew of Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat, was killed.
After the incident, which took place at the Tomb of Joseph, a Palestinian court sentenced the three to one year in prison and were recently released.
The Ministry of Defense announced that Ben Yosef was a terror victim a month after his death. The decision was taken after the announcement of the army that the officers who shot him were not in immediate danger.
According to the initial investigation of the military, 19 Jewish worshipers arrived at Joseph's Tomb in three vehicles, ignored the Palestinian police order to stop at a roadblock. The Palestinian police opened fire on them.
“The Palestinian leadership should be punished. Why did they release killers after serving just one year in prison? This is outrageous. I am glad that the three terrorists were arrested and hopefully, they will be jailed in Israel for a long time,” Shiral Gingham, 50, of Jerusalem, Israel told YourJewishNews.com after being asked to comment on the arrests of Livnat’s killers.
Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, who is Ben-Yosef's aunt, praised the victim saying: "The son of my brother was killed by terrorists masked as Palestinian police officers for no reason other than his desire to pray. He was innocent."