Israel on Friday returned to the Palestinian Authority (PA) the bodies of two terrorists who carried out attacks in Hevron four months ago, Army Radio reported.
One of the terrorists is 25-year-old Hatem Shaludi, who stabbed a soldier and lightly wounded him. The second is Mohammed Rajabi, a 16-year-old terrorist who tried to stab a soldier.
The two terrorist attacks occurred two days apart and both were shot by IDF forces.
The Israeli government had at one point promised to stop the transfer of terrorists’ bodies to the PA, though this would not be the first time that Israel has done so after promising to cease the practice.
The policy was an issue of contention between former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who in the past argued that the return of terrorists’ bodies to their families prevents escalations, and Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who has opposed such transfers.
This week, the Cabinet decided that Israel will no longer return the bodies of Hamas terrorists who were killed while carrying out terrorist attacks, as part of a new plan of action on bringing back the Israeli soldiers and civilians held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)