Duvdevan soldiers pulled terrorist who killed their friend out of bed
In raid last week, soldiers from the elite Duvdevan unit arrested Islam Yusuf Hamid, who dropped a marble slab on their friend Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky; 'The terrorist was surprised and had no ability to resist or try to run,' says unit's deputy commander.
Soldiers from the IDF's elite Duvdevan unit raided the al-Am'ari Refugee Camp last Wednesday in the late morning hours and pulled the terrorist who killed their friend, Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky, out of bed.
Islam Yusuf Hamid, 32, dropped a marble slab on Staff Sgt. Lubarsky, a Duvdevan soldier, during an arrest raid in the camp near Ramallah on May 24. After fighting for his life for two days, the 20-year-old soldier eventually succumbed to his injuries.
"We had no doubt we would receive this mission. We feel satisfaction, like we've come full circle," Deputy Duvdevan Commander Lt. Col. M. told Ynet.
"We raided the camp in broad daylight. It was complex because of the topography of the place and the violent population, which is awake at these hours," Lt. Col. M. explained.
"We were required to demonstrate a high level of skill, to raise rifle barrels to the roofs, to be accurate. We had to get to the house he was hiding in quickly, to his room, and actually pull him out of the bed in which he slept. Then we left quickly, with no injuries among the soldiers. The terrorist was surprised and had no ability to resist or try to run," the deputy Duvdevan commander added.
Since the incident that claimed the life of one of their own, the Duvdevan unit carried out several missions in the camp as part of the manhunt for the terrorist, including undercover intelligence gathering.
During the operation to capture the terrorist, several other Palestinians were detained on suspicion of aiding the terrorist hide.
Duvdevan Commander Lt. Col. A. was the one to call Lubarsky's parents to tell them about the arrest of the terrorist who killed their son.
"This family is very strong and helped strengthen us throughout this period. With its great strengths, it gave us a sense of mission," Deputy Commander M. said.
Lt. Col. M. said no meaningful conclusions were drawn from the inquiry into the incident. "Our force acted professionally, and in most cases in refugee camps we operate in inferior areas with exposed rooftops," he said.
The terrorist Hamid, who was hiding in a different house in the crowded and violent refugee camp, has already served five years in Israeli prison for his involvement in a Hamas-led shooting attack.
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."
