Abbas’ advisor on Religious Affairs meets with families of murderers
Headline: “Habbash to the relatives: The [PA] president is determined to ensure the release of the Martyrs’ bodies”
“Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] advisor on Religious [and Islamic] Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash emphasized that the leadership, and President Mahmoud Abbas at its head, is determined to ensure the release of the bodies of the Martyrs (Shahids) [being held by Israel] and to ease the tragedy of their families. At the same time, he emphasized that the president opposes the impossible conditions that the occupation is placing in order to delay the transfer of the bodies and their burial.
These statements were made during a meeting that Al-Habbash held yesterday [Dec. 15, 2016] at his office in the supreme Shari’ah judge office building with a delegation on behalf of the families of the Hebron district Martyrs whose bodies are being held in the occupation’s [morgue] refrigerators. Al-Habbash clarified that the decision to hold the bodies of the Martyrs and the delay in their release is an Israeli political decision, which is included as part of the extortion of members of our people, making them succumb, and carrying out a policy of collective punishment against their families. Likewise, he noted that it is the right of the families to bury their Martyr sons, and promised them to pass their pleas to His Honor the President.
The families of the Martyrs expressed their appreciation for the positions of the president and for the ongoing aid to ease their suffering, and thanked the supreme Shari’ah judge for his interest in their just cause.”
The following are terrorists from the Hebron district whose bodies are being held by Israel:
Muhammad Taraireh – 17-year-old Palestinian terrorist, who stabbed and murdered 13-year-old American Israeli Hallel Yaffa Ariel, as she slept in her bed, in her home in Kiryat Arba near Hebron, on June 30, 2016. Taraireh also injured one of the Israeli security personnel before he was shot and killed.
Muhammad Al-Faqih, 29-year-old Hamas terrorist who had previously been imprisoned for planning terror attacks when affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, and Muhammad Amira, terrorist and a member of the PA police force, murdered Rabbi Michael Mark, a 48-year-old father of ten, in a shooting attack on July 1, 2016 on Route 60 in the southern Har Hebron region. Al-Faqih opened fire on the Mark family's car causing the vehicle to overturn and crash. Amira was driving the car from which Al-Faqih shot at them. Rabbi Mark’s wife Chava, 40, was also seriously wounded in the attack, and two of their children were injured – their daughter Tehila, 15, and their son Pedayah, 16. Al-Faqih and Amira fled the scene, but were located by the Israeli army on July 27, 2016. Al-Faqih resisted arrest and shot at the soldiers from his home where he had barricaded himself. Al-Faqih was killed when the Israeli soldiers shot an anti-tank missile and other artillery at his house. Amira was arrested.
The following are terrorists not from the Hebron district whose bodies are being held by Israel:
Abd Al-Hamid Abu Sorour – 19-year-old Hamas terrorist who on April 18, 2016, carried out a suicide bombing attack on bus no. 12 in the Talpiot neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem. 21 people were injured in the attack. Abu Sorour died of his injuries a few days later in an Israeli hospital.
Musbah Abu Sbeih – 39-year-old Palestinian terrorist who murdered 2 Israelis and wounded 5 others in 3 drive-by shooting attacks in Jerusalem on Oct. 9, 2016. Abu Sbeih, who held Israeli residency status, began his shooting spree at the Ammunition Hill light rail stop and continued to the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood. He was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli border police officers during the attack. On the morning of the attack, Abu Sbeih was due to turn himself in to begin a 4 month jail sentence, after being convicted in January 2015 on numerous counts of inciting to terror and supporting a terror organization. On his Facebook page, Abu Sbeih praised terror groups including Hamas as well as terrorists who carried out attacks and actively called for attacks against Israelis. In July 2016, Abu Sbeih was given a distancing order from the Temple Mount that was to be in effect until the end of October 2016.
Muhammad Turkeman – Palestinian Authority police officer who carried out a shooting attack on Oct. 31, 2016, at a checkpoint near Beit El, at the entrance to Ramallah. Using a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Turkeman shot and wounded 3 Israeli soldiers before being shot and killed by other Israeli soldiers.
“Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] advisor on Religious [and Islamic] Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash emphasized that the leadership, and President Mahmoud Abbas at its head, is determined to ensure the release of the bodies of the Martyrs (Shahids) [being held by Israel] and to ease the tragedy of their families. At the same time, he emphasized that the president opposes the impossible conditions that the occupation is placing in order to delay the transfer of the bodies and their burial.
These statements were made during a meeting that Al-Habbash held yesterday [Dec. 15, 2016] at his office in the supreme Shari’ah judge office building with a delegation on behalf of the families of the Hebron district Martyrs whose bodies are being held in the occupation’s [morgue] refrigerators. Al-Habbash clarified that the decision to hold the bodies of the Martyrs and the delay in their release is an Israeli political decision, which is included as part of the extortion of members of our people, making them succumb, and carrying out a policy of collective punishment against their families. Likewise, he noted that it is the right of the families to bury their Martyr sons, and promised them to pass their pleas to His Honor the President.
The families of the Martyrs expressed their appreciation for the positions of the president and for the ongoing aid to ease their suffering, and thanked the supreme Shari’ah judge for his interest in their just cause.”
The following are terrorists from the Hebron district whose bodies are being held by Israel:
Muhammad Taraireh – 17-year-old Palestinian terrorist, who stabbed and murdered 13-year-old American Israeli Hallel Yaffa Ariel, as she slept in her bed, in her home in Kiryat Arba near Hebron, on June 30, 2016. Taraireh also injured one of the Israeli security personnel before he was shot and killed.
Muhammad Al-Faqih, 29-year-old Hamas terrorist who had previously been imprisoned for planning terror attacks when affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, and Muhammad Amira, terrorist and a member of the PA police force, murdered Rabbi Michael Mark, a 48-year-old father of ten, in a shooting attack on July 1, 2016 on Route 60 in the southern Har Hebron region. Al-Faqih opened fire on the Mark family's car causing the vehicle to overturn and crash. Amira was driving the car from which Al-Faqih shot at them. Rabbi Mark’s wife Chava, 40, was also seriously wounded in the attack, and two of their children were injured – their daughter Tehila, 15, and their son Pedayah, 16. Al-Faqih and Amira fled the scene, but were located by the Israeli army on July 27, 2016. Al-Faqih resisted arrest and shot at the soldiers from his home where he had barricaded himself. Al-Faqih was killed when the Israeli soldiers shot an anti-tank missile and other artillery at his house. Amira was arrested.
The following are terrorists not from the Hebron district whose bodies are being held by Israel:
Abd Al-Hamid Abu Sorour – 19-year-old Hamas terrorist who on April 18, 2016, carried out a suicide bombing attack on bus no. 12 in the Talpiot neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem. 21 people were injured in the attack. Abu Sorour died of his injuries a few days later in an Israeli hospital.
Musbah Abu Sbeih – 39-year-old Palestinian terrorist who murdered 2 Israelis and wounded 5 others in 3 drive-by shooting attacks in Jerusalem on Oct. 9, 2016. Abu Sbeih, who held Israeli residency status, began his shooting spree at the Ammunition Hill light rail stop and continued to the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood. He was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli border police officers during the attack. On the morning of the attack, Abu Sbeih was due to turn himself in to begin a 4 month jail sentence, after being convicted in January 2015 on numerous counts of inciting to terror and supporting a terror organization. On his Facebook page, Abu Sbeih praised terror groups including Hamas as well as terrorists who carried out attacks and actively called for attacks against Israelis. In July 2016, Abu Sbeih was given a distancing order from the Temple Mount that was to be in effect until the end of October 2016.
Muhammad Turkeman – Palestinian Authority police officer who carried out a shooting attack on Oct. 31, 2016, at a checkpoint near Beit El, at the entrance to Ramallah. Using a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Turkeman shot and wounded 3 Israeli soldiers before being shot and killed by other Israeli soldiers.