Murder of Eitam and Na'ama Henkin

Eitam Henkin was 31 and held dual Israeli-American citizenship.[1][2] Originally from Jerusalem, he was a rabbi, researcher, and lecturer who studied at Yeshivat Nir in Kiryat Arba for approximately ten years, served in the Golani Brigade, and later attended an officers' course for noncommissioned officers.[3] He was the eldest son of Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin and was described as a scholar and close student of his father.[4] His brother Yagil said he had written two books on Jewish law and one historical volume; a biographical account identifies the historical work as "Lachem yihiyeh le'ochlah."[5][3]

Na'ama Henkin, 30, whose maiden name was Armoni, grew up in Peduel and owned a graphic-design studio.[3] The couple lived in Neria and were the parents of four children, aged nine, seven, four, and under one year.[6][1] On October 1, 2015, the family was returning from a reunion that Eitam had organized.[7]

The attack came at the outset of a broader wave of Palestinian terrorist violence against Israelis in October 2015.[8] In interrogation accounts, members of the cell said they sought revenge for the July 2015 Duma arson attack, in which members of the Dawabsheh family were killed and Jewish extremists were alleged to have been responsible.[9][10]

On the evening of October 1, 2015, a Hamas terrorist cell ambushed the Henkins' car on the road between Elon Moreh and Itamar, near Beit Furik in Samaria.[7] According to Yahia Hajj Hamad's interrogation account, he fired 10 or 15 rounds in automatic mode as the Henkins' car was being overtaken. After both vehicles stopped, he changed the rifle magazine and approached the car with Karem Razek.[11]

The interrogation accounts differ in some details of the confrontation. Razek said that Eitam, already wounded, tried with all his strength to seize Razek's pistol; Hamad said he then fired at Eitam, accidentally wounding Razek in the hand, and subsequently shot Na'ama when she confronted him.[11] Eitam and Na'ama were both pronounced dead at the scene.[2]

The four children remained in the backseat and survived.[12] Hamad said he saw three or four children and did not shoot toward them, citing a prohibition on killing children. Razek said he saw two children, while driver Samir Kusah said Hamad later told him he had seen the children and left them unharmed.[11] An earlier security-source account said the accidental wounding of Razek caused the cell to flee quickly and may also have contributed to the children's survival.[7] Reports differ on whether the children were physically unharmed or sustained minor injuries.[8][2]

The Israeli investigation identified the perpetrators as a five-member Hamas cell from Nablus whose members had distinct roles.[7] Ragheb Ahmad Muhammad Aliwi, 37, was identified as the commander who recruited the members, directed their activities, and supplied weapons, although he was not present in the vehicle during the attack.[7] Yahia Hajj Hamad, 24, worked at a supermarket and was identified as the principal gunman.[7][13] Samir Kusah, 33, a bus driver and father of three, drove the vehicle.[7][13] Karem Razek, 23, studied technical engineering at Al-Najah University and carried a pistol during the attack; he was accidentally wounded in the hand by Hamad.[7][13] Zaid Amar, 26, a driving instructor, conducted advance route preparation to determine whether Israeli security forces were present.[7][13]

The investigation linked the cell to a shooting near Kedumim on August 30, 2015, in which bullets struck an Israeli vehicle but nobody was injured. Cell members also described involvement in another shooting in the area.[7] Forensic evidence included the pistol dropped when Razek was wounded and other findings recovered from the scene.[7]

Israeli security forces arrested the five Hamas operatives in and around Nablus, and the Shin Bet said they admitted involvement during questioning.[7] Razek, who had sought treatment for his wounded hand at a Nablus hospital, was removed by an Israeli undercover force.[7] A separate report said additional individuals were detained on suspicion of assisting the cell.[14]

Immediately after the killings, a Fatah-affiliated group called the Abdel Qader al-Husseini Brigades claimed responsibility, and an official Fatah bulletin declared that the attack had been carried out by Fatah operatives.[15] The subsequent Israeli investigation instead attributed the attack to the Hamas cell from Nablus.[15]

Hamas publicly praised the attack. An FBI affidavit filed with a U.S. federal criminal complaint states that Hamas praised it as a "heroic attack" and called for "more high-quality attacks."[12] An analysis published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs attributes the attack's orchestration to Hamas headquarters in Turkey and says Ragheb Aliwi recruited the Nablus cell and supplied its weapons.[16]

A 2016 Times of Israel report said an Israeli military court sentenced four cell members — Hajj Hamad, Kusah, Razek, and Amar — to two life sentences plus thirty years each.[17] A 2023 report from the same publication, however, described Amar as having then been convicted of two counts of intentionally causing the Henkins' deaths, four attempted-murder charges relating to the children, and other security offenses, while stating that the other three members had already been sentenced.[18] The two reports therefore leave an unresolved discrepancy concerning the timing and status of Amar's conviction and sentence.

The investigation and interrogation accounts attributed the shooting to Hamad and Razek, the driving to Kusah, and advance route preparation to Amar. They also described Eitam's attempt to seize Razek's pistol during the confrontation.[7][11]

The Israeli Supreme Court later rejected petitions against demolishing homes connected to the attack. President Miriam Naor wrote that the policy's stated purpose was deterrence rather than punishment, while acknowledging that demolition could also harm relatives who had not assisted in or known about an attack.[19]

Eitam and Na'ama Henkin were buried the following day. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin attended the funeral and delivered a eulogy, and Eitam's parents said the children's grandparents would raise them.[2] Eitam's brother Yagil described him as both a rabbi and a doctor, spoke of his two books on Jewish law and one historical work, and urged those present not to seek revenge against innocent people.[5]

Yagil Henkin also criticized how the family learned of the killings. He said his mother called him at 22:42 because she could not reach Eitam and that, one minute later, he received an SMS saying his brother had been murdered.[6] An IDF source said the army had sent notification to the Binyamin Regional Council rather than directly to the family; a council representative acknowledged that the notification process could be faster.[6]

In the United States, the attack drew congressional attention. On October 8, 2015, Senator Ben Cardin described the murders in the Senate and noted that Eitam was a dual Israeli-American citizen.[20] A February 2016 House speech mentioned the Henkins while criticizing United Nations terminology, saying that "in U.N. terminology" the couple would be described as "extremist settlers." The statement was part of the speaker's political criticism of the United Nations, not a neutral finding about the victims.[21]

Palestinians shared images of the Henkins' car on social media with the words "Revenge for our sister," referring to Hadeel al-Hashlamon, who had been killed at a Hebron checkpoint on September 22, 2015.[22]

Accounts differ on several details surrounding the attack. A Senate speech and a Jewish Virtual Library timeline list the children as nine, seven, four, and four months old.[20][1] An October 2015 counterterrorism report and a later FBI affidavit instead identify the infant as nine months old.[8][23] An October 5 Ynet report gives the youngest child's age as eight months.[7]

Sources also differ on the children's physical condition. The counterterrorism report says they were physically unharmed but treated for shock, while the Jewish Virtual Library says they were lightly injured.[8][2] The initial Fatah responsibility claim and the later identification of a Hamas cell are not necessarily descriptions of the same evidentiary stage: one records an immediate public claim, while the other reflects the subsequent investigation.[15] Published reports concerning Amar's judicial status likewise remain inconsistent.[17][18]

Beyond his role as a father and community member, Eitam Henkin was recognized as a scholar of Jewish law and rabbinic history.[4] His father, Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, was a noted halakhic authority, and Eitam was described as a close student who continued his family's tradition of Jewish learning.[4]

A 2023 Tradition Online review of the posthumous collection "Studies in Halakhah and Rabbinic History" recalled that Eitam and Na'ama were murdered on Sukkot in 2015. The review described his work as careful, wide-ranging, and marked by a strong concern for historical and halakhic accuracy.[24] His brother Yagil said Eitam had already written two books on Jewish law and one historical volume before his death.[5] The review presented the later collection of his articles as a monument to a scholarly career cut short.[24]