In a bid to disprove reports that two Palestinians who murdered two Israel hikers in December had escaped from prison, the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday allowed a Channel 10 crew to visit the two in their jail cell in Hebron.
The two Palestinians who murdered hikers Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin speak to a reporter in a Palestinian Authority prison in Hebron.
Photo: Channel 10
The Channel 10 footage seemed to invalidate earlier claims that the two had fled and were spotted walking the streets of Hebron.
The two Fatah-affiliated terrorists, one of whom was also a member of Palestinian security forces, were sentenced by a Palestinian court to 15 years in prison for killing off-duty soldiers Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin, who were hiking in Nahal Telem, not far from Hebron.
The families of Amihai and Rubin, as well as politicians from the right, have demanded that the suspects be handed over to Israel, claiming that in previous cases the "revolving door" in Palestinian prisons allowed terrorists to walk free well before they sat out their sentences.
Nevertheless, it was decided to allow the Palestinians to prosecute them, and some even called it an opportunity to allow the PA to prove its commitment to fulfilling its security obligations.
