Murder Incident
On October 12, 2000, two Israel Defense Forces soldiers, reservists serving as drivers, Vadim Nurzhitz and Yossi Avrahami, mistakenly passed an Israeli checkpoint and entered Ramallah. Reaching a Palestinian Authority roadblock, where previously Israeli soldiers were turned back, the reservists were detained by PA policemen and taken to the local police station. Rumors spread that undercover Israeli agents were in the building, and a violent mob of more than 1,000 Palestinians gathered at the station, calling for the death of the Israelis. Within fifteen minutes, word that two soldiers were held in a Ramallah police station reached Israel. The IDF decided against a rescue operation. Soon after, Palestinian rioters stormed the building, murdered, and mutilated both soldiers.
The Israeli reservists were beaten, stabbed, had their eyes gouged out, and were disemboweled. At this point, a Palestinian (later identified as Aziz Salha), appeared at the police station window, displaying his blood-stained hands to the crowd, which erupted into cheers. The crowd clapped and cheered as one of the soldier's bodies was then thrown out the window and stamped and beaten by the frenzied mob. One of the bodies was set on fire. Soon after, the mob dragged the two mutilated bodies to Al-Manara Square in the city center as the crowd began an impromptu victory celebration. Palestinian policemen did not prevent, and in some cases actually took part in, the lynching.
Read more about this topic: 2000 Ramallah Lynching
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