“Terrorists should know that whoever takes a life will pay with theirs,” says victim’s family.
By World Israel News Staff
Two terrorists who murdered an Israeli man were killed by Israeli security forces during a recent counter-terror raid, to the relief of the victim’s family.
In June 2024, Amnon Mukhtar was brutally murdered in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Kalkiya, where he often obtained goods for his business.
At the time, his son, Nir, told local media that his father “knew everyone there” and enjoyed visiting the city.
A resident of Petah Tikvah, 67-year-old Mukhtar was shot dead on a main street in Kalkiya by Ali Khalil and Jamal Abu Haniyeh. His car was then set on fire.
The pair who murdered Mukhtar were killed some two months later, along with five other terrorists, in an IDF airstrike on the terror hotbed of Tulkarem.
An additional, separate airstrike on the same day killed two other terrorists, which included participants in the murder of Saff Sergeant (res.) Elhanan Ariel Klein and Chief Superintendent Yitav Lev Halevi.
The slaying of Khalil and Abu Haniyeh provides “a sense of closure for” Mukhtar’s loved ones, his family told Hebrew-language media outlet Ma’ariv.
“Every terrorist should know that this is their end. Whoever murders an Israeli will be killed,” the family added.
“Instead of sitting in prison, they must know that whoever takes a life will pay with theirs.”
Mukhtar, who owned a popular fruit and vegetable stand in Petah Tikvah’s open-air market, is deeply missed by his friends and family.
A father of five, one of Mukhtar’s children was married just two months before his murder.
“He was a good man,” a relative told Ma’ariv, describing how Mukhtar would secretly donate goods to those in needs, without taking public credit for his charitable deeds.
The relative added that Mukhtar “raised his children wonderfully,” and stressed his generous support of “people who had nothing.”
Mukhtar “loved to help others and give back” to the community, the relative said.