Palestinian youths charged with slaughter of Fogel family

"I'm proud of what I did, I did it all for Palestine," one of the suspects says during an appearance in court, "I would do it again."

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Suspects in Fogel, Itamar massacre_311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Suspects in Fogel, Itamar massacre_311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Two Palestinian youths from the West Bank village of Awarta, arrested in April on suspicion of murdering five members of the Fogel family in Itamar, were charged with five counts of homicide at a military court on Sunday.
The defendants, 17-yearold Hakim Awad and 18-yearold Amjad Awad, who are from the same clan, have confessed to stabbing and shooting two young brothers, their parents, and a three-month-old baby in the attack.
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“I don’t regret what I did, and would do it again,” Amjad Awad told reporters in court. “I’m proud of what I did and I’ll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine,” he added.
The charge sheet detailed how the two saw two young brothers sleeping in their beds, 4-year-old Elad and 11- year-old Yoav, snuck into the home, and stabbed them both to death. They then entered the parents’ bedroom, where they launched a knife attack on Ehud and Ruth Fogel. The parents fought back, attempting to fend off the attackers. Ehud died of stab wounds and Ruth was shot dead by the attackers with a stolen M- 16 gun. The two then left the house, before hearing cries from three-month-old baby Hadas. Awoken by the attack, the baby lay in its crib in the parents’ bedroom.
“They went back into the house and stabbed the baby to death to silence her cries,” a security source said following the arrests in April.