Israel Returns Another Terrorist Body to Family

The body of 37-year-old terrorist Muhammad Nimar, who carried out a stabbing attack in Yerushalayim on November 10, 2015, was returned to his family Sunday night, it was reported Monday. Nimar attempted to stab two security officers at the Damascus Gate. He was shot and badly wounded by the guards, later dying of his wounds. It was one of three stabbing attacks that day.

Some 30 people were present when the body was returned to the family, which lives in an Arab neighborhood in eastern Yerushalayim. Nimar’s mother told Palestinian news agency Ma’an that when they saw the body there were “in shock, it looks like he was shot dozens of times.”

Last week, the High Court demanded that the government begin returning the bodies of terrorists who were killed after committing terror acts. About a dozen bodies are in storage after they were shot by IDF soldiers. Most of the dead terrorists were residents of Arab neighborhoods of Yerushalayim.

The government had decided several weeks ago to no longer return the bodies of these terrorists to their families, because many of the funerals that were conducted turned into anti-Israel riots where incitement was rife. The bodies would be released only if the families guaranteed that they would hold quiet, late-night funerals with only family members in attendance.

The families appealed to the High Court, which ordered the state to show cause why the bodies should continue to be held. Instead, the state backed down, and the court ordered that the bodies be released within a month.

Overnight Sunday, security officials said they arrested 9 wanted security suspects in Yehudah and Shomron. The suspects were wanted for participating in rioting and throwing stones and firebombs that endangered Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. Several of the suspects were also charged with belonging to Hamas.