BICOM

The IDF have launched an inquiry and sent additional troops into the West Bank following the brutal murder of Ruth and Udi Fogel and their three children, who were stabbed to death in a terrorist attack on Friday night in the Itamar settlement southeast of Nablus. The IDF is increasing troop numbers to halt any violence from escalating, especially between Jewish residents and Palestinians in the area. The IDF and the Shin Bet are continuing to investigate the incident and made several arrests.

In response to the terrorist attack, Defence Minister Ehud Barak convened a meeting with his top military and security heads on Saturday night and called on the perpetrators to be apprehended. “This is a horrible attack that makes my blood boil, but I have no doubt that the perpetrators will be captured,” Barak said.

The terrorists entered the Fogel’s house around 10pm (Israel time) on Friday and attacked the family while they were sleeping. The children murdered included a three month old baby girl and two boys, aged 3 and 11. Two other children in the house were not attacked, while the eldest child, a 12-year-old girl, was out at the time. In an immediate response, the IDF and Israeli Police deployed forces in the area and launched searches in nearby Palestinian villages to find the attackers.

In response to the deadly attack on Saturday the ministerial committee on settlement affairs decided in a nighttime meeting to approve the construction of 500 new West Bank houses. On Sunday the US State Department released a statement that said continued West Bank settlement construction runs counter to the efforts to resume Israeli Palestinian peace negotiations.

The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, on Saturday strongly condemned the terrorist attack, saying, “The friends and relatives of the family killed in Itamar have my deepest sympathies. This was an act of incomprehensible cruelty and brutality which I utterly condemn. We hope the perpetrator is swiftly brought to justice.”