IDF maps house of suspected killer of Amit Ben Yigal
The force mapped the house in order to examine possibilities of demolishing it.
By ALEX WINSTONIDF soldiers map the house of Nizmi Abu Bakar, who is suspected of murdering First Sergeant Amit Ben Yigal, June 11, 2020
IDF forces mapped out the house of Nizmi Abu Bakar, who is suspected of murdering 1st Sgt. Amit Ben Yigal during a military operation on May 12 in Yabad near Jenin. The army mapped the house in order to examine possibilities of demolishing it.
IDF soldiers map the house of Nizmi Abu Bakar, who is suspected of murdering First Sergeant Amit Ben Yigal, June 11, 2020 (Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)49-year-old Abu Bakar was arrested in the days after the attack after a joint investigation between the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) along with the IDF and Israel Police.Ben Yigal died when a stone was thrown from the roof of a house during a military operation in Yabad. According to IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman, the large rock was thrown from the roof of one of the homes on the outskirts of the village as troops were leaving the village. “The rock hit the soldier directly in the head,” Zilberman told reporters. “The soldier was wearing a helmet. But it hit him at an angle.”Many of the building’s residents were arrested during the manhunt and Abu Bakar was one of several suspects accused of throwing the rock. According to the Shin Bet, he confessed to the attack in recent days.IDF soldiers map the house of Nizmi Abu Bakar, who is suspected of murdering First Sergeant Amit Ben Yigal, June 11, 2020 (Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)Security forces said that the difficulty did not come from getting the confession from the attacker, who has no record of prior security incidents, but rather to try and reach a conclusive decision that it was his stone that killed Ben Yigal.
"Our forces have found and arrested the lowly terrorist who killed Amit Ben Yigal," said Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday after Abu Bakar's arrest was announced by the IDF. "I hope that the fact he was captured bring solace to Amit's parents, who I met a week ago, even if only briefly. Whoever harms the citizens and soldiers of Israel will pay a heavy price. We will reach anyone, anywhere."IDF soldiers map the house of Nizmi Abu Bakar, who is suspected of murdering First Sergeant Amit Ben Yigal, June 11, 2020 (Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)Meanwhile, on Wednesday the military Court of Appeals in Judea and Samaria handed down its verdict in the appeals of two of the terrorists who took part in the attack on the Rami Levy supermarket at the Sha'ar Binyamin shopping complex and industrial zone in the Binyamin region of the West Bank in February 2016. 21-year-old Tuvia Yanai Weissman, husband and father of one, was killed and one other person was wounded.One of the three Palestinian minors involved in the stabbing spree had his sentence extended in January from 35 years to life in prison.The suspects were known as A.A. and A.T. since they were minors. Last July, A.A. was sentenced to 32 years in prison and A.T. to 35 years in prison. The military prosecution appealed the sentences and sought to get a life sentence for each of the boys.The Court of Appeal accepted the prosecution's appeal in the case of A.T. and imposed a life sentence on him, stating that, as a rule, the punishment for intentionally causing death is a life sentence, even in the case of minors. The prosecution's appeal in A.A's case was rejected, however, and his sentence was not increased.Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.
