Terror attack in Armon Hanatziv
Photo: Eli Mandelbaum
Israel returns body of Armon Hanatziv terrorist
After refusing to hand over the body of an infamous terrorist who murdered 3 Israelis last October on a bus in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv, Israel allows terrorist's family to bury their son in discreet service.
The body of Baha Aliyan, a terrorist who became a symbol of the recent wave of terror, was released Thursday morning by Israel after months of negotiations with his family.
Aliyan, who on October 13, 2015 boarded a bus with fellow-terrorist Bilal Abu Ghanem, armed with guns and axes, was killed during the attack by security forces while Ghanem is currently standing trial. Three Israelis were killed by the terrorists in the attack.
Since the attack, which claimed the lives of Haviv Haim, 78, Richard Lakin, 76, and Alon Andrei Govberg, 51—and wounded several others - Aliyan became one of the more prominent symbols of the escelation of violence. His legacy became one to which other like-minded Palestinians aspired and his actions transformed him into a role model worthy of emulation. Indeed, a Palestinian branch of the scouts movement recently dedicated a training course to Aliyan.
'Symbol of Intifada' - The terrorist Baha Aliyan
Aliyan was buried in a cemetery in the Old City in Jerusalem on conditions set out by the police which included a quiet and discreet service which fewer than 30 participants were permitted to attend. The family was also required to deposit tens of thousands of shekels in the case they violated the stipulated terms.
According to Palestinian figures, 327 Palestinians have been killed in recent violent incidents, the vast majority of whom Israel says were terrorists killed while carrying out attacks.
After each incident, Israel has been left in possession of the terrorists’ bodies.
During the recent wave of terror the government declared, on many occasions, that it opposed handing over the bodies for burial, reasoning that the funeral processions often turned into a nest for incitement against Israel, further fanning the flames of terror.
Scene of attack in Armon HaNatziv (Photo: Reuters)
At the height of the violence, Israel held ten bodies at any given time. However, over the course of the last year it emerged that Israel had silently been returning almost all of the terrorists’ bodies to their families.
Indeed, today, just 12 bodies remain in Israel’s hands, two of whom were from East Jerusalem while the remainder were from the West Bank.
Among them is the terrorist who carried out the attack which killed Michael Miki Mark and the terrorist who murdered 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel as she slept in her bed in Kiryat Arba.
