Family of Palestinian who allegedly murdered IDF soldier questioned

Central Command is continuing to stress to its soldiers the dangers of kidnappings in the West Bank.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
THE GRAVE of IDF Sgt. Tomer Hazan grave 370 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
THE GRAVE of IDF Sgt. Tomer Hazan grave 370
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) questioned the relatives of Nedal Amar, the Palestinian man who allegedly lured a young IDF soldier from Bat Yam to the West Bank and murdered him on Friday.
Amar said he had carried out the murder of 20-year-old Sgt. Tomer Hazan to try and bargain for the release of his brother, Nur al-Din Amar, a Tanzim member imprisoned in 2003 for taking part in a suicide bombing attack.
Nedal Amar was arrested on Saturday, and led security forces to the body.
Investigators were seeking to get full accounts from the suspect’s relatives, the source added.
Amar allegedly persuaded Hazan, who served in the Israel Air Force, to accompany him to his Samaria village of Beit Amin.
Amar then murdered him in an open area with a weapon that was not a firearm and hid his body in a well, the IDF said on Saturday. The two had worked together at a Bat Yam restaurant.
The IDF’s Central Command is close to completing its own operational inquiry into the attack.
The inquiry, which is being carried out by the Judea and Samaria Division, is examining the army’s responses to the incident from the moment that Hazan’s family reported him missing.
The Central Command is continuing to stress to its soldiers the dangers of kidnappings in the West Bank. The number of soldiers whom Military Police have caught illegally trying to hitchhike has decreased recently, an army source added.
There have been over 30 kidnapping attempts against soldiers in the West Bank this year.