National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the decision to return three bodies of Palestinian terrorists as “a grave mistake that will cost us dearly.”
(May 7, 2023 / JNS) Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Friday slammed the decision to return the bodies of three terrorists to the Palestinian Authority, and vowed to continue boycotting Knesset votes until the governing coalition assumes a more hardline approach.
Israeli forces on Thursday eliminated the terrorists who last month murdered three members of the Dee family in the Jordan Valley. Lucy Dee, 48, and daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were killed in an April 7 shooting on the Route 57 highway near the Hamra Junction.
The terrorists, identified as Hamas members Hassan Katnani and Muad Masri, were shot dead in an exchange of fire after Israeli forces surrounded their hideout in Nablus’s Kasbah (Old City). Ibrahim Hura, identified by the IDF as a collaborator with the Hamas terrorists, was also killed in the raid.
Ben-Gvir described Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s decision to return the three bodies as “a grave mistake that will cost us dearly,” and called for a change in approach.
“It is not too late to implement a powerful and offensive security policy. Otzma Yehudit will continue to be absent from [Knesset] votes until the Israeli government changes course and begins to uphold the policy for which it was elected,” said Ben-Gvir.