Palestinian terrorist confesses to Ofra, Givat Assaf attacks

A Palestinian man has confessed to carrying out deadly terror attacks last year which claimed the lives of two IDF soldiers and an unborn baby in the West Bank. Assam Barghouti confessed during a hearing at the Ofer Military Court to the murder of Amiad Ish-Ran outside the settlement of Ofra and St.-Sgt. Yuval Mor Yosef and St. Yosef Cohen at the Givat Assaf Junction in two separate attacks in December 2018. Another IDF soldier, Netanel Felber, was critically wounded in Givat Assaf attack. Barghouti also confessed to other charges. Ilanit and Motti Mor Yosef, the parents of IDF soldier, Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef, who was murdered by Barghouti, did not attend the hearing but called for the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of carrying out terror attacks. “We are pleased that the circus in the military courts is coming to an end. From our point of view, once the decision was made not to request the death penalty for the murderer, we knew that justice would neither be seen or done,” they said in a statement. “The murderer was a “ticking bomb” and we are sad that he was not killed instead of being arrested. It is time to change the policy on the death penalty, and restore the deterrence of the State of Israel, that does not exist.” Barghouti carried out the attack at Givat Assaf just days after he and his brother Salah Barghouti shot seven Israelis in a drive-by-shooting attack in the settlement of Ofra, just north of Givat Assaf. Amiad Ish-Ran, who was delivered prematurely as a result of the attack, died three days later. Salah Barghouti was killed during his arrest attempt on December 11. He was arrested in a joint operation by the IDF, Israel Police and Shin Bet  in the West Bank village of Abu Shukheidim, north of Ramallah, at the home of one of his associates, a month after the deadly attacks. According to the Shin Bet, Assam had been planning additional attacks against Israeli targets when he was arrested and was found with a Kalachnikov rifle, large amounts of ammunition and night vision equipment. Source