Prisoner Released in Shalit Deal Arrested in Erev Pesach Murder

A terrorist released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner swap has been arrested for the murder of police Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi, Hy’’d, in April, according to media reports.

A media gag order was lifted on Monday on the report that Ziyad Awad, a 42-year-old Hamas terrorist, was arrested a month ago by Yamam special forces, along with his 18-year-old son, in Tarkumiya, a village to the northwest of Chevron.

Mizrahi was driving to Kiryat Arba for the Leil Seder with his wife and three of his children when the terrorist opened fire on the family car.

He served as head of the Technology Division in the Sigint Unit, part of the Intelligence Brigade in the Investigations and Intelligence Branch of the police.

After the attack, Awad reportedly told his son Az Adin that his motive for murdering Mizrahi was religious, and that “according to the religion of Islam, everyone who kills a Jew goes to paradise.”

Security sources also stated Monday that Awad’s home has been slated for demolition as part of his punishment.

“Catching a killer that was released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal is a warning sign to any future releases,” Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin said in response to the arrest, Ynet reported.

Levin added that the “responsibility for the murder lies with the entire Palestinian public that supports the killers and elevates them to hero status. Israel must change the equation so that the entire Palestinian public would feel the painful price of murders and abductions.”

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the June 24th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.