Ira Kalika

⚠️ Sensitive Content: This post describes the details of a horrific terror attack. Hakim Mazen Awad and Amjad Mohammad Awad, both 18 and relatives, infiltrated the Israeli community of Itamar, armed with four knives - two of them approximately 40 cm long. They broke into the Fogel family’s home while they were asleep, moving from room to room to butcher the entire family. Amjad covered 10-year-old Yoav’s mouth to silence him, while Hakim seized 4-year-old Elad, chillingly motioning with his finger for the child not to be afraid. The horror escalated as Amjad slit Yoav’s throat and plunged a knife into his chest. Simultaneously, Hakim dragged little Elad into the adjacent room and attempted to strangle him. As the boy lay helpless on the floor, Hakim’s hand still muffling his cries, Amjad entered and ended the child's life, stabbing him in the chest with both knives. They then entered the parents’ bedroom. Ehud, the father, fought back but was stabbed repeatedly in the neck and the back of his head. Ruth tried to fight Hakim off, but Amjad stabbed her multiple times in the neck and back. Seeing she was still alive, Hakim aimed his gun and shot her. After the murders, the terrorists left - only to return shortly after to search for weapons. That is when they heard the cries of Hadas, a three-month-old baby. They stabbed her in the head, murdering her in her crib. Two other children, aged 8 and 2, were sleeping in another room. They went unnoticed and survived. The terrorists locked the house from the inside and escaped through a window. The massacre was discovered by Tamar, the 12-year-old daughter, who returned home from a youth activity. She heard her brother crying and called the neighbors, who managed to get her 8-year-old brother to open the door. She then entered the house and found her parents and three siblings lying in pools of blood. The terrorists were later captured and each sentenced to 130 years in prison. "I do not regret it. I am proud of what I did and dedicate this massacre to the Palestinian people," Amjad Awad declared in court. This week marks fifteen years since they were taken from us. Israel will never forget.