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5 Family Members Murdered in a Brutal Terror Attack

Jpost

A mother, father and three of their children were stabbed to death late Friday night by at least one suspected terrorist who infiltrated the Itamar settlement southeast of Nablus.

The killings occurred shortly after 10 p.m., when one or two attackers jumped the fence that surrounds Itamar and broke into the home of Ruth and Udi Fogel, aged 35 and 36, respectively. The attackers went room to room, stabbing the parents, a three-month-old girl, Hadas, and two boys, Elad, three, and Yoav, 11.

Two other children – aged two and eight – were in a side room but were not attacked.

The family’s oldest child, 12- year-old Tamar, was out of the house at the time.

The IDF immediately launched searches in nearby Arab villages as Palestinians reported that a faction of Fatah’s al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade had claimed responsibility.

Several dozen suspects were arrested in Awarta, Sanur and Zabada as soldiers conducted searches with the aid of unmanned aerial vehicles that provided surveillance from above.

As the attackers used knives rather than rifles or pistols, and because of other characteristics of the killings, the IDF believes it was not carried out by an organized terrorist infrastructure but more likely was the work of one or two people who could, though, be affiliated with one of the larger Palestinian terrorist groups.

The army urged the settler community to demonstrate restraint in the coming days.

The IDF and the Israel Police deployed large forces in the area to prevent clashes between settlers and Palestinians.

The suspected terrorists infiltrated the settlement close to 9:30 p.m. but did not carry out the attack until around 10:15.

“The children were literally slaughtered,” an IDF officer said, describing the scene, including the children’s toys spilled out on the floor and covered in blood. “This is one of the most brutal attacks we have ever seen.”

The IDF was in contact with Palestinian Authority security forces, but senior officers said the army would not rely on the PA to catch the perpetrators.

“This attack is one of the worst attacks we have known in recent years and we will hunt down the terrorists until they are caught,” the officer said, noting that there had not been an infiltration into Itamar in almost eight years.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak convened top military and security chiefs on Saturday and urged them to take all necessary action to apprehend the killers.

“This is a horrible attack that makes my blood boil, but I have no doubt that the perpetrators will be captured,” Barak said during a meeting with IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin. “We need to do everything so security and quiet can return to the area.”

OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi expressed condolences following the attack.

“An entire family was killed by despicable and cowardly murderers who murdered children and parents for no reason,” he said.

Mizrahi hinted that the IDF had a lead on the identity of the terrorists: “We are in the midst of pursuing the terrorists and I believe we will catch them very soon,” he said.

The details of the investigation were covered by a gag order.

The Fogel family lived in Gush Katif. After the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip, it moved to Ariel and then to Itamar.

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47 Comments

  • :(

    no use tracking down the murderer, although of course…
    he represented the PA!
    nu. enough already.
    this is not an individual that needs to be dealt with only….
    the blood thirsty organization,
    when will enough be enough?
    when will Netanyahu say good bye to any negotiations.
    there is no-one home to talk to! nu.

  • OMG CRAZY! SHOCKING!

    These arabs are murdering freaks, there are liberals that think that the arabs are good and they don’t kill they are so nice, but look at this they always murder suicide attacks it’s crazy PEOPLE WAKE UP THE ARAB“S ARE BAD THEY ARE MURDERS AND DON”T ASSOCIATE WITH THEM

  • mmhershkop

    Hashem yinkom damam! In honor of their holy souls we should all learn some mIshnayos!

  • Hashem yikum damam!

    Hashem yikum damam!

    A beautiful family and little children murdered in cold blood!

    And this from the “religion of peace” (sic)

    When they find these animals they should chop them apart limb by limb like Shmuel Hanivi did to Agag! (and that still would not be enough)

    That would be a fitting “Zochor”!

  • chayaF

    There is simply no words to describe this. HaShem should immediately revenge their blood, and console this family. What will happen when they capture the killers? Oh, I know, they will be taking computer science courses and learn how to read in prison, and maybe get special baked goods from home!!!!
    Ad masei, for every soul that was killed, they should take over one arab city, and push these sub humans out to where ever these beasts came from. They are simply not human,and when will the Israeli govt learn? The next thing you will hear from this govt, is “on with the peace process… or piece process” We need as a people to unite, and beg G-d to finally redeem us from this miserable exile.

  • crying

    crying for those kids. the two yr old covered in blood sobbing by his parents side as they lay bleeding to death!!! cant take it anyomore!!!!

  • saddened

    horrible truly horrible,

    i still dont see how parents can put their kids in harms way by living in the shtachim.. if someone wants to risk their life to prove a policitcal/religious point i understand..but it is indefensbile to put your kids in harms way.. factually proven that settlers dont have the protection they need (and deeserve) but knowing that just breaks my heart

  • Horrific

    To #10 How do you call a Jew living in Eretz Yisrael a settler??? your more of a settler living in the U.S.A then a Jew living in any part of the holy land, its his G-d given right!!

  • NATANYAHU-S TO BLAME

    TRACKING DOWN THE MURDERERS IS ONE BIG FAT JOKE, AS THEY WILL BE FREED AT THE VERY NEXT BARGAINING SESSION BETWEEN THE ISRAELI STUPID GOVERNMENT AND THE ARAB MURDERERS. THE ONE TO BLAME AND HOLD RESPONSIBLE IS NATANYAHU. HIS JOB IS TO PROTECT HIS PEOPLE AND NOT BOW TO AMERICAS WHIMS. THE REBBE SAID MILLIONS OF TIMES IF THEY GIVE UP ONE INCH OF LAND THEY ARE ENDANGERING YIDDISHE LIVES“ AND WE SEE IT WITH OUR OWN EYES. IF NATANYAHU DOESN’T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO TELL THE WORLD ”MY JOB IS TO PROTECT MY PEOPLE AND THAT IS NON NEGOTIABLE” THEN HE SHOULD STEP DOWN.

  • Joshua Abrams

    Saddened wrote:“i still dont see how parents can put their kids in harms way by living in the shtachim”.. yes of course and the students — the holy Kedoshim of Yeshiva Hharav Kook in Yerushalayim who were murdered on Rosh Chodesh Aadar a few years ago should not be living in Jerusalem and maybe Jews the world over should just diasappear heaven for-fend. What a sad and ill informed comment you have made.

    And to all the people who forgot what happened or care not to avenge what was done to the Gush Katif Jews , please give a thought to their plight

    And to all who piled on the great Rabbi Volpo — what happend to the Israeli checkpoints removed that allowed this travesty to happen.

    No folks. Stop being politically correct. You do Chabad and Lubavitch NO favor nor do any honor to the REBBE.

    Now is NOT the time to be silent regarding the Jews of Israel. Ad Mosai!

  • Baruch Margolioth

    This is a Mumbai level assault on the Jewish nation. I published an article in “Israel behind the news” one year after the Mumbai attacks. The article I published had not received exposure when I first wrote it after the Mumbai attacks. From a trauma perspective, this article was too painful for the Jewish collective conscious to metabolize so soon after the attack. I have previously quoted studies, conducted by the New York Medical Association published in JAMA, that following the 9/11 attacks the levels of arousal and apprehension were elevated in large portions of the population. All the more so does this apply when it comes to an attack on the Jewish people. In my original article following the Mumbai attacks I remembered how the Rebbe in his farbrengens used to make associations between the concession of land, the release of terrorists,the negotiations over Palestinian Statehood, and how they not only put the lives of every Jew in the world in danger, but even gentiles and Arabs. I saw an interesting Rashi on Esther’s Megilla chapter 9 regarding the execution of Haman’s ten sons. Rashi claims that he saw in Seder Olam that it is described in the book of Ezra chapter 6 that after Corash (the king of Persia) died, Jews in the Persian exile had a glimmer of hope of redemption. They began building in Judea and Jerusalem . These ten sons of Haman are of the Amulek family. The notion of Jews living in their own state of Judea and Jerusalem so bothered these ten sons of Haman that they instigated the local population with forged letters with a seal of Achashverush to function as building inspectors and stop all building in Judea and Jerusalem. The imagery of this current brutal terrorist attack and the wounds inflicted show similar intent to inflict injury and suffering before death, which compares with that of Nahariah and Mumbai.

  • Baruch Margolioth

    This is a Mumbai level assault on the Jewish nation. I published an article in “Israel behind the news” one year after the Mumbai attacks. The article I published had not received exposure when I first wrote it after the Mumbai attacks. From a trauma perspective, this article was too painful for the Jewish collective conscious to metabolize so soon after the attack. I have previously quoted studies, conducted by the New York Medical Association published in JAMA, that following the 9/11 attacks the levels of arousal and apprehension were elevated in large portions of the population. All the more so does this apply when it comes to an attack on the Jewish people. In my original article following the Mumbai attacks I remembered how the Rebbe in his farbrengens used to make associations between the concession of land, the release of terrorists,the negotiations over Palestinian Statehood, and how they not only put the lives of every Jew in the world in danger, but even gentiles and Arabs. I saw an interesting Rashi on Esther’s Megilla chapter 9 regarding the execution of Haman’s ten sons. Rashi claims that he saw in Seder Olam that it is described in the book of Ezra chapter 6 that after Corash (the king of Persia) died, Jews in the Persian exile had a glimmer of hope of redemption. They began building in Judea and Jerusalem . These ten sons of Haman are of the Amulek family. The notion of Jews living in their own state of Judea and Jerusalem so bothered these ten sons of Haman that they instigated the local population with forged letters with a seal of Achashverush to function as building inspectors and stop all building in Judea and Jerusalem. The imagery of this current brutal terrorist attack and the wounds inflicted show similar intent to inflict injury and suffering before death, which compares with that of Nahariah and Mumbai.

  • sarah

    oy ad masai! my heart is breaking, i cant even think of sleeping tonight.
    #13 u r 100% right. if the prime minister cant protect his people (security had been removed, and relaxed) then he needs out.
    moshiach now!
    down to all our enemies.

  • No more miracles for now

    The miracle of Daniel in the lions den only happened once. Israelies think that g-d will always send an angel to protect them.

    How many more have to die before they wise up using themselves and their children as bait.

  • C.L.

    This tragedy took the lives of 5 Kodoshim. The immense pain and suffering for the family, friends and for Klal Yisroel is beyond description. No decent human being from this moment on should ever have to know of such pain. Is this an appropriate time to discuss opinions on where in Eretz Yisroel Jews should or shouldn’t live. My only personal response to this is Ad Mosai. Rebbe, please lead us out of this long Golus immediately.

  • Sharon-s Legacy

    Bibi, listen to the black soul of Sharon what else are you going to give back

    FILTHY MURDERERS

  • to # 19

    no matter where jews go they will always have enemies.untill moshiach comes there will always be something happening to the jews.moveing out of isreal wont help! we will always have enemies!there is no safe place, so where should they go? moveing is showing that they have given up hope,have we?
    as soon as that hapens, we will have some new enemies! the only solution is moshiach!

  • to # 19

    if someone is not meant to live ,they will not live.yes,they r supposed to take care of their life,but if they are not alive its for aa reason we wont know. boruch dayan emes.may the family be consoled

  • Lo Saamod Al Dam Reiecho!

    People are commenting on horrific news with statements of ad mosai and moshaicah now. sadly that seems to be the jewish response: sigh and say “oh well it’s out of our hands”…

    Why can’t we as a nation stand up and demonstrate! why cant the frum community get together and make some noise?

  • enough suffer

    again an another tragedy amongs us, what a shame to let those arabs killing us, please please wake up and let’s take a real NEMAKA until we did not teach them a real lesson we will be g-d forbid their kaparos~!!Hashem, Rebbe listen the cries of our children, we need Mashiach

  • A Jew

    AD MOSAI!! Hashem yinkom damom!! We need Moshiach NOW. More acts of goodness and kindness.

  • sj

    To CL: Jews should live in all of Eretz Yisrael! We need to take a lesson from our enemies and insist that all Israel belongs to us. It would be better to discuss where in Eretz Yisroel non-Jews shouldn’t live. The Rebbe told us what to do-to insist that there no “territories”-it is Jewish land.

  • sickened

    there should be a public beheading with mandatory attendance by all palestinians. their heads should hang from the mosque ceilings and their bodies the only food their kids should be allowed to eat. and that still wont be enough. we still wont get this family back…..

  • they was supposed to put more security

    and all the news is ignoring it if they were arabs they wouldnt..and if it were arabs there would be protests everywhere. WE NEED MASHIACH!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!

  • Baruch Margolioth

    Since some of the imagery is so horrific I have pondered about the pros and cons on this issue.After Mumbai I received some information from the Chevrah Kedusha regarding the status of the Jewish victims. As we know, Captains` Regesh and Goldwasser (who could only be identified by DNA technology) were exchanged for hundreds of terrorists.When the public has to carry the consequences of all political “gestures” the more we know about the “nature of the beast” the clearer we can weigh the risk/benefit ratio.I always assume, since the negotiations were so extended, that leading into the Lebanon II War, Regesh and Goldwasser were alive, leading to the pursuit of Hezbollah into Lebanon.I would like to see gross anatomical imagery or see a report released by the Medical Examiner`s Office. That is the standard procedure for all “unnatural deaths” in the State of New York.What is most notable to me me in these photos are the numerous non-lethal, but deep stab wounds perpetrated merely for the purpose of inflicting serial painful wounds. Death may come about by accumulative blood loss.This is in the absence of exposure to a view of the full anatomy. As in the case of Kunter in Nahariya the significance of the imagery is a measure of the evil pitted against our nation by Amalek. This is why Shmuel Hanavi removed the Malchus from Saul because he refused to kill Agag, (leading to the ascent of Haman), and placed it with Dovid Hamelech, The Nassi Hador. (See “When Silence is a sin” Sichos in English).

  • DG770

    These are bad pictures. If you want to honor the memories of those who were killed al kiddush Hashem, put good pictures of them, not bad ones.

  • Julia Dickinson

    An atrocious,abhorant act.No words can describe the people/animals? that commit such crimes against humanity.I am shocked & appaled,but perhaps shouldn’t be.’The writing is on the wall’…as we say in England.In other words:We know it is coming,we just don’t know where or when,but we know it is on the way’.A sad day for mankind.

  • I support a two state solution

    One for the Jews above ground and one for the Arabs 6 feet under the ground.

  • it-s adar

    there is a time for everything right now is not the time for weeping it’s adar if we wan’t to actually do somthing to bring moshiach we have no time to weep instead use your energy for mitzvo to bring moshiach now!

  • perverted sadist

    to #44 youre probably a “humanitarian”. vegan too probably. too good for anger, rage or probably anything at all. all this “dont stoop to their level” has gotten the jewish people where exactly? im not quite sure. we should try it their way just once. it may be the last time we need to try…..

  • CH girl

    The reason why it’s not on the news is because of earthquakes and the thousands of people suffering and dying as a result.