Terrorist arrested by IDF (illustrative)
Terrorist arrested by IDF (illustrative)Israel News Photo: (Flash 90)

The official Palestinian Authority newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida this week urged the release of one of the top killers currently jailed in Israel, Thaer Hamed.

According to the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), which translated and reported on the article, editor Hafez Barghouti praised Hamed for "having carried out the most successful military action, alone… he is the hero of the Intifada…"

From a hiding place on a hill in 2002, Hamed shot and killed seven Israeli soldiers, one after the other, as they emerged from a building below in Wadi Al-Haramiyye. He also shot and killed an Israeli paramedic and two civilians in the same area.

The editor bemoaned the fact that Hamed was not included in the list of killers that Hamas has demanded that Israel free in exchange for the life of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held hostage in Gaza since his capture on June 25, 2006.

"This young man should be our top priority since he entered the history of the Intifada as having carried out the most successful military action, alone…" he wrote.

"He is made of the same stuff as those who carried out the capture of Shalit."

Both the Palestinian Authority government headed by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas terrorist organization regularly glorify brutality and terrorism against Israel in their publications and other media outlets. Terrorists are held up as role models for PA children and youth by naming schools, summer camps and athletic facilities after vicious murderers.