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Ahikam Amihai (left) and David Rubin. (Reproduction: IDF / Flash 90)
Last update - 02:59 23/01/2008
Palestinian court sentences killers of two Israelis to 15 years
By Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters
Tags: IDF, West Bank, Hebron 

A special Palestinian Authority court in Hebron on Tuesday sentenced two PA employees to 15 years in jail for shooting dead two Israelis hiking near Hebron last month.

The two, 24-year-old Amar Taha, a Palestinian police officer, and 26-year-old Ali Dandanes, a PA court clerk, turned themselves in after killing Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin roughly three weeks ago, fearing they would be captured by Israeli security forces.

Amihai and Rubin were Israel Defense Forces soldiers on leave from their units. They were hiking near Hebron when they came under fire from three Palestinian terrorists in a Jeep.
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Amihai and Rubin were both armed, and managed to return fire, killing one of the terrorists. Their female companion, a Kiryat Arba resident who had joined them for the hike, was uninjured.

"They were criminals who carried out a criminal act against Israelis," said Samil al-Safi, a security official in Hebron.

Safi said the attack "aimed to destroy the safety and security for the Palestinian security plan in the West Bank."

The Palestinian intelligence agencies did not immediately inform Israel that the terrorists were in their custody, and only did so once the Shin Bet security service approached Palestinian officials.

Following the Shin Bet request, Palestinian intelligence confirmed that the terrorists had turned themselves in, and handed over to Israel the victims' weapons, which the assailants had taken following the attack, as well as the weapons used in the shooting.

According the Palestinian inquiry, the attack was premeditated, and the terrorists had waited for an opportune time to carry it out. One of the terrorists spotted the three Israeli hikers, and called the other two terrorists to the scene in order to carry out the attack.

Related articles:
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  • Terrorists who killed two Israelis in W. Bank are Fatah men
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      1.   PA Court Sentence 20:06  |  david 22/01/08
      2.   15 Years For Murder? This Is An Outrage! 20:06  |  Yishai Kohen 22/01/08
      3.   Sickening - Only 15 years!!!!!!!! 20:18  |  Lee 22/01/08
      4.   #2 15 Years For Murder! 20:20  |  Bill Foonman 22/01/08
      5.   15 years is too long 20:34  |  johnj 22/01/08
      6.   Not terrorists 20:37  |  Minda 22/01/08
      7.   Israeli Court Vs PA Court 20:37  |  Mary 22/01/08
      8.   I`ll bet they`re released in less than a yr 20:37  |  joey 22/01/08
      9.   David #1 20:39  |  Joe 22/01/08
      10.   David 20:39  |  Connie 22/01/08
      11.   Let`s see some transparency here 20:39  |  Joe Sittizen 22/01/08
      12.   Hopefully, Olmert will be sentenced to at least this 20:41  |  bat yam 22/01/08
      13.   They are Hero`s 21:03  |  Faris Zaidan 22/01/08
      14.   The Sentence 21:03  |  Gina 22/01/08
      15.   The collaborator PA does not represent us 21:11  |  Ismail 22/01/08
      16.   One Can Only Hope 21:12  |  John C. Calhoun 22/01/08
      17.   #5 Minda 21:19  |  JSNYC 22/01/08
      18.   Ridiculous comment, Minda #6. They`re terrorists and criminals 21:33  |  Polybios 22/01/08
      19.   A Setback for a Just Peace 21:33  |  DoubleClick 22/01/08
      20.   The PA revolving door policy 21:44  |  Jerusalem Jew 22/01/08
      21.   Fifteen years longer than Israelis get 21:52  |  Steve 22/01/08
      22.   johnj in Canada (#5) 21:52  |  Polybios 22/01/08
      23.   13 Ismail,truly said! There is a Petition from 108 countries to 21:53  |  lakshmi 22/01/08
      24.   to # 2: Israeli policemen kill innocent arabs and walk free... 21:58  |  Rami 22/01/08
      25.   "Confidence Building" in REVERSE 21:59  |  DoubleClick 22/01/08
      26.   #15 Your day will come - and you will be imprisoned too 22:00  |  McQueen 22/01/08
      27.   Hope israel start hunting down and sentencing its own terrorists. 22:01  |  Rami 22/01/08
      28.   pro-Arab posters prove again that nothing is too low for them 22:04  |  McQueen 22/01/08
      29.   Well done PA 22:08  |  Nik Miller 22/01/08
      30.   Minda (sec attempt) 22:16  |  Gina 22/01/08
      31.   A first 22:24  |  Gee 22/01/08
      32.   They Will Do Of Sentence 15 Months Top 22:24  |  Nick 22/01/08
      33.   Only 15 years for double murder? 22:25  |  jewish gal 22/01/08
      34.   When was the last time... 22:26  |  Colin Wright 22/01/08
      35.   I will kill them myself 22:28  |  Joey 22/01/08
      36.   Is the sentence consistent? 22:28  |  John Phee 22/01/08
      37.   re #2 `15 Years for murder. This is an outrage...` 22:29  |  Colin Wright 22/01/08
      38.   Minda #6--look at the law! 22:29  |  Lawyer II 22/01/08
      39.   Notice to PA 22:34  |  TonyL 22/01/08
      40.   Minda 22:34  |  Connie 22/01/08
      41.   Is the sentence consistent with similar cases? 22:37  |  John Phee 22/01/08
      42.   wickedness beyond words 22:38  |  king 22/01/08
      43.   Colin Wright 22:43  |  Gina 22/01/08
      44.   People advocating these murderers as freedom fighters... 22:44  |  Richard S 22/01/08
      45.   #1 David; Its a question of proportions. In Canada 23:00  |  Max Zinger,Mosssad 22/01/08
      46.   Killing two armed illegal settlers 23:04  |  Jens 22/01/08
      47.   TonL no. 24 23:17  |  Steve 22/01/08
      48.   Minda #6. Are you Manda? 23:24  |  Vittorio 22/01/08
      49.   #2 Yishai Kohn 23:25  |  Labhras 22/01/08
      50.   Is that a revolving door that I hear !? 23:26  |  redmike 22/01/08
      51.   Joe#9 - response to David 23:27  |  William 22/01/08
      52.   SENTENCE 15 years. Jail time 15 minutes?? Mortally wounded and 23:31  |  PETER SM 22/01/08
      53.   Ismail the Collaborator#15 23:34  |  William 22/01/08
      54.   #18 Polybios re terrorists. 23:38  |  Labhras 22/01/08
      55.   Perfect words from the Palestine street - Faris#13 23:38  |  William 22/01/08
      56.   DoubleClick #19 23:40  |  Polybios 22/01/08
      57.   Minda#6 - if they are heroes and freedom fighters 23:44  |  William 22/01/08
      58.   they should have been given medals 23:45  |  Assad-u-LLAH 22/01/08
      59.   Glass houses 23:50  |  I am not sure 22/01/08
      60.   Steve #47 00:08  |  TonyL 23/01/08
      61.   Double murder of Jews only worth 15 yrs? 00:16  |  jewish gal 23/01/08
      62.   Palestinians - A BUNCH OF SICK MINDED PEOPLE 00:17  |  Jason 23/01/08
      63.   Labhras #49 00:21  |  TonyL 23/01/08
      64.   PA should teach Israel about justice 00:21  |  Natallie Durson 23/01/08
      65.   Labhras 00:22  |  Polybios 23/01/08
      66.   The reason behind calling them TERRORISTS... 00:38  |  Avi 23/01/08
      67.   Two intruders taken out 00:53  |  Starlight 23/01/08
      68.   Actually, the ball is in Israel`s court (again) 01:08  |  Outsider 23/01/08
      69.   57. Willy? isn`t that what you are doing? 01:21  |  Assad-u-LLAH 23/01/08
      70.   They are not killers 01:35  |  Ahmad 23/01/08
      71.   They got 15 years MORE 02:01  |  Axel 23/01/08
      72.   # 44 richard s 02:05  |  Axel