Erez Levanon
Reproduction photo
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for settler's murder
In statement released on its website, group says two members of its al-Quds Brigades were 'able to lure settler into an agricultural area, and fatally stab him several times.' Organization also warns of 'more operations against Israeli soldiers and settlers'
The Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack which left an Israeli man dead on Sunday night.
On Monday, the IDF arrested two Palestinians for the murder.
The body of 42-year old Erez Levanon, of Gush Etzion, was found in an alleyway in the Palestinian village of Beit Omar, north of Hebron .
Arrest
Efrat Weiss
Cleared for publication: Intelligence information attained by defense establishment indicates Erez Levanon was murdered Sunday night by two Palestinians hiding in building in village of Beit Omar, not far from scene of stabbing
In a statement released on Islamic Jihad's website on Monday evening, the group said two members of its al-Quds Brigades were "able to lure a settler into an agricultural area, and fatally stab him several times."
A spokesman for the Muhammad Sidr Shahid group, part of Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades, was quoted as taking responsibility for the attack by the group's website.
The statement also threatened further "operations against Israeli soldiers and settlers who continue to operate in a criminal manner against the people of Hebron," and added that the murder was "in retaliation for the continued Zionist aggression against the steadfast city of Nablus."
In the past five years, Islamic Jihad has carried out a series of deadly suicide bombings, including a 2005 bomb attack in Tel Aviv, in which four Israelis were murdered. In 2003, an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed 21 and injured 60 people in an attack on the Maxim restaurant in Haifa.
Islamic Jihad's leadership is based in Damascus, Syria, and terror analysts say it is heavily subsidized by Iran.
