Malachi Rosenfeld's murderers used PA money to fund attack
Indictments filed against terrorists behind murders of Rosenfeld, Danny Gonen; leader of terror cell, released in Shalit deal, used PA monthly stipend to train and arm cell members.
The Military Advocate General filed indictments on Monday against the terrorists involved in the murders of Israelis Danny Gonen and Malachi Rosenfeld a month ago in the Binyamin area of the West Bank.
The Shin Bet investigation into Rosenfeld's murder found that the Palestinian Authority, which arrested two members of the terror cell and maintains security cooperation with the IDF, actually inadvertently funded the attack.
Ahmad Najar, the head of the terror cell that murdered Rosenfeld, was imprisoned in Israeli jail for the murder of six Israelis in 2004. After his release as part of the Shalit deal, he received a monthly stipend from the Palestinian Authority, which he used to train and arm his terror cell.
After his release, Najar moved to Jordan. For the attack, he recruited his brother Amjad, who withdrew the money the PA deposited for Ahmad in a bank account in the West Bank.
On June 29, the terror cell's members shot Rosenfeld to death and wounded his three friends near the settlement Shvut Rachel. Before that, they made sure the road was clear and that it was safe for them to commit the murder.
Even before murdering Rosenfeld, they attempted to commit another attack but ran into a police roadblock, they also opened fire at a Magen David Adom ambulance near Beit El, in an incident that ended without injuries.
Two of the cell members, Mu'ad Hamed and Ahmad Shibrawi, have been arrested and are held by the Palestinian Authority because of their involvement in the attack.
Terrorist committed murder without cell members
Muhammed Abu Shaheen from Qalandiya was indicted for shooting Danny Gonen to death near the settlement Dolev and wounding his friend Netanel Hadad.According to the indictment, he was a part of a cell with three other people who planned the attack for several weeks, scouted the area for weeks, and waited for the right time to act.
The indictment reveals that the members of the cell arrived to the Bubin stream, where the murder took place, several times in the month prior to the attack with an FN semi-automatic 9mm handgun, and followed the comings and goings of those who came to bathe in the stream, using binoculars.
In one instance, they came near a group of armed soldiers who came to bathe in the stream in civilian clothes, but decided not to shoot at them because they were outnumbered. In another instance, the cell members stopped a vehicle and intended to kill its passengers, but stopped when they realized they were Arabic speakers.
On June 19, Friday afternoon, Abu Shaheen headed to the stream without the other cell members and scouted the area for an hour until Gonen and Hadad arrived. When they got closer to him on the dirt road near the stream, he cocked his weapon and hid it, according to the indictment.
He indicated to Gonen, the driver, that he wanted them to stop and asked him if he knew whether there was water in the stream. Gonen responded in Hebrew, and drove on.
Then, according to the indictment, Abu Shaheen called out "listen!" in Arabic and Gonen stopped again. Abu Shaheen walked towards the car and fired two bullets from half a meter away at Gonen's upper body.
According to the indictment, Abu Shaheen then moved to the front of the car and fired eight additional bullets that wounded Hadad.
He then escaped in his car to Qalandiya, met with his terror cell friends, and told them he had murdered a Jew. According to the indictment, the other members of the cell were angry that he did so without their knowledge.
The charges against the cell members also include several cases of shooting at soldiers in Qalandiya and planning to kidnap an Israel.
