On October 1, 2015, Eitam Simon Henkin, a doctoral student at Tel Aviv University who also held American citizenship, and his wife Na'ama Henkin, a graphic designer, were shot and killed while driving near the town of Beit Furik in the West Bank. The couple, residents of the settlement of Neria, were traveling with their four children, who were present in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
A statement from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that a group affiliated with the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades initially claimed responsibility. However, Israeli prosecutors later stated that the attack had been carried out by a Hamas cell. According to the indictment, the assailants had also planned to kidnap the vehicle's occupants, a plan that was reportedly thwarted when Eitam Henkin attempted to fight off the attackers.
Seven individuals were named in connection with the case. Israeli indictments accused Yahia Muhammad Naif Abdullah Hajj Hamad of being the shooter; Samir Zahir Ibrahim Kusah of being the driver and linked him to an earlier shooting near Enav that injured a driver; Karem Lufti Fatahi Razek of being a gunman wounded during the attack by a fellow cell member; Zir Ziad Jamal Amar of clearing the way for the vehicle carrying the gunmen; and Ragheb Ahmad Muhammad Aliwi, described in the indictment as a paroled militant from Nablus, of organizing the attack by recruiting, leading, and instructing the others. Two additional individuals, Bassad Saikh (also known as Bassam Ameen al-Sayeh) and Amgad Aliwa, were convicted of aiding and abetting the attack.
Following the killings, the Israel Defense Forces deployed hundreds of soldiers, joined by Shin Bet personnel, in pursuit of the perpetrators, and Israeli security forces reportedly detained five members of a Hamas cell linked to the attack. Hamas praised the attack. The Henkins were buried in Jerusalem in a funeral attended by thousands, including Israel's president and chief rabbi. In the aftermath, settlers threw stones at Palestinian cars, ambulances, and homes near the village of Burin, resulting in minor injuries to a woman and a Palestinian driver.
Israeli authorities demolished the homes of six of the seven men linked to the attack between November 2015 and May 2016, following legal proceedings; a demolition order for one individual's home was ultimately denied by the Supreme Court in September 2016. Israeli and international officials, including the Israeli president, prime minister, and Human Rights Watch, publicly condemned the killings. In 2021, a U.S. federal court ruled in favor of a civil suit brought by Henkin family relatives against Iran and Syria, finding the countries liable for damages related to financing and arming Hamas, in a case reportedly seeking $360 million.
This killing is cited as the first incident in the 2015–2016 wave of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit photographerCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListen
