Palestinian arrested on suspicion of dropping marble slab, killing soldier
Islam Yusuf Hamid, 32, suspected of dropping the marble slab that killed Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky from nearby roof at the al-Am'ari Refugee Camp; Islam's brothers are Hamas members behind terror attacks that killed Israelis.
The Shin Bet and the IDF's elite Duvdevan unit have arrested a Palestinian suspected of dropping a marble slab on IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky during operational activity at the al-Am'ari Refugee Camp, killing him.
The Shin Bet investigation into the incident found Islam Yusuf Hamid, 32, dropped the marble slab from a nearby roof.
Hamid served a jail sentence in Israel in the past, from 2004 to 2009, for his involvement in a shooting attack at the behest of Hamas.
While he was on the lam, Hamid hid in the refugee camp, and security forces are now looking for any accomplices who helped him hide.
Hamid comes from a family of Hamas terrorists behind several attacks that killed Israelis in the past.
Four of his brothers, also Hamas members, are serving life sentences for their involvement in murderous terror attacks during the second intifada, including the 2002 Seafood Market attack in Tel Aviv that claimed the lives of three Israelis.
One of the brothers is serving a life sentence for the 1994 shooting of Shin Bet operative Noam Cohen.
Half of the Hamid family is affiliated with Hamas and the other with Fatah. Hamid's elder brother is one of the founders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the right hand of Marwan Barghouti.
None of the Hamid brothers who were sentenced to life has been released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal.
"I received the news with mixed feelings," said Arik Lubarsky, the soldier's brother. "I know the kind of good conditions terrorists have in prison, and perhaps in the future he'll be released in a (prisoner exchange) deal."
He added he felt relieved to know his brother's suspected killer had been captured. "The intelligence operations were very complex because it's a refugee camp, but I always believed in the Shin Bet that they would find him," he said.
Lubarsky's brother called for "more drastic" measures against Palestinians rioting every night across the West Bank during IDF arrest raids.
He also asserted that "In this specific case, there's need of the death sentence. It certainly seems reasonable to me."
Lubarsky, 20, a soldier from the elite Duvdevan unit, was covering an arrest raid in the refugee camp near Ramallah on May 24 when violent rioting erupted, and Palestinians started hurling different objects at the troops.
A marble slab thrown down at him hit the staff sergeant in the head. "His helmet was destroyed; he fell on his back and suffered another blow. So he was hit hard in the head and was evacuated," an IDF official said.
"This was a necessary raid to arrest several terrorists who carried out attacks in the past. The soldier was wearing full protective gear, including a helmet, and while he was standing close to one of the homes the marble slab was thrown down at him," the IDF official explained.
His fellow soldiers evacuated him out of the camp, and he was taken to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Karem for treatment, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The rest of the force was able to complete the mission and arrest the wanted man.
Alexandra Lukash and Nir Cohen contributed to this story.
