Hamas terrorist who murdered father of 5 sent to prison for life

A Hamas terrorist who murdered Police Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi was sentenced by an Israel court to life in prison. 

Ziad Awad, a Hamas terrorist who murdered Police Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi in April 2014, was sent to prison for life on Monday .

A military court sentenced him to two life sentences in prison and ordered him to pay NIS 275,000 in damages.

His son Izz-a-Din, who assisted the attack, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and given a NIS 325,000 fine in damages.

Awad, a Hamas operative and resident of the Arab village of Idna near Hebron, and his 18-year-old son Izz-a-Din, also a member of Hamas, fired at Mizrahi and his family as they were on their way to celebrate the Passover holiday. Mizrahi, a 47-year-old father of five, was instantly killed in the ambush. His wife Hadas was seriously wounded, and their nine-year-old son sustained light injuries.

Mizrahi had served in the IDF for 25 years in various positions, including operational, technological and as a lieutenant colonel in intelligence. In June 2011, he was inducted into the Israeli police force as a chief superintendent.

Awad fatally shot Mizrachi. His son had assisted in planning the attack and in helping his father flee from the scene of the murder.

Awad was freed in the Shalit deal in 2011, in which captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was released by Hamas in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Following the breach of his release terms, Awad was also sentenced to another 16 years in prison.

According to the IDF, Awad had told his son that the reason for the attack was religious, saying that according to Islam, “whoever kills a Jew goes to heaven.”

Hadas Mizrahi has called for the death penalty to be instated in this case. “The time has come to impose the death penalty on terrorists. It is inconceivable that convicted terrorists could be freed and could then go and murder our loved ones. We must wield an iron fist against terrorism,” she stated last month.

She was awarded a civilian award by the police in December 2014 for her courage during the attack. While her husband was shot and she was wounded, she stopped the car and steered it away from danger, and then calmly contacted the police in order not to frighten her children.

By: World Israel News Staff