2011 Itamar attack

Not to be confused with Itamar attack (2002).

Itamar massacre
The victims of the attack. (Clockwise, from top left:) Ruth Fogel (35), Udi Fogel (36), Hadas (3 months), Yoav (11), Elad (4)
2011 Itamar attack is located in the Northern West Bank
2011 Itamar attack
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The attack site
LocationItamar, West Bank, (Area C)
Coordinates32°10′27″N 35°18′30″E / 32.17417°N 35.30833°E / 32.17417; 35.30833
Date11 March 2011; 13 years ago (2011-03-11)
Midnight (GMT+2)
Attack type
Stabbing/shooting attack
WeaponsKnife
M16 rifle
Deaths5 Israeli civilians (including 3 children)
PerpetratorsAmjad Awad
Hakim Awad[1]

The Itamar attack,[2] also called the Itamar massacre,[3] was a terrorist attack on an Israeli family in the Israeli settlement of Itamar in the West Bank that took place on 11 March 2011, in which five members of the same family were murdered in their beds. The victims were the father Ehud (Udi) Fogel, the mother Ruth Fogel, and three of their six children—Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and Hadas, the youngest, a three-month-old infant. The infant was decapitated.[4] The settlement of Itamar had been the target of several murderous attacks before these killings.[5]

Amjad Awad and Hakim Awad, two young Palestinian cousins from the village of Awarta, were arrested for the murders. On 5 June 2011 the two men were indicted on five counts of murder, stealing weapons, breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Both were later convicted. They initially denied any involvement in the attack[6] but later proudly confessed to the murders,[7] expressing no remorse and reenacting the attack before security officials.[8]

The attack was harshly condemned by the United Nations, the Quartet on the Middle East, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other governments, as well as the Palestinian Authority and a number of non-governmental organizations. Xinhua, the official press agency of the People's Republic of China, stated that the attack was praised by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, who self-identifies as the military wing of Fatah, stated that "the heroic operation is a natural response to the (Israeli) occupation crimes against our people in West Bank and Gaza Strip."[9] An opinion poll indicated that 63% of Palestinians opposed and about one-third supported the attack. One of the perpetrators of the murders was described as a "hero" and a "legend" by members of his family, during a weekly program.[10] Itamar and its outposts are known as a particularly violent against their Palestinian neighbours.[11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference teens was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Mahmoud Abbas condemns Itamar attack". The Jerusalem Post. 12 March 2011.
  3. ^ * Altman, Yair (13 March 2011). "Itamar massacre: Fogel family butchered while sleeping". Ynetnews. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  4. ^ Bagshawe, Louise (24 March 2011). "A family slaughtered in Israel – doesn't the BBC care?". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  5. ^ Cohen, Gili (13 March 2011). "Itamar settlement has been a prime target for terror". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ynet26.05.11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Raved, Ahiya (5 June 2011). "Palestinian baby killer: Proud of what I did". Ynetnews. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference solved was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference AN031311 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "PA TV glorifies murderers of Fogel family". The Jerusalem Post. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  11. ^ "Separate and Unequal: Israel's Discriminatory Treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories". Human Rights Watch. December 2010. pp. 101 ff. Retrieved 27 October 2023.