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Samir Kuntar

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File:Samir kuntar.jpg
Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar (Template:Lang-ar, also transcribed Sameer, Kantar, Quntar, Qantar) (born July 20, 1962 in Abey, Lebanon), is a Druze Lebanese militant who belonged to the Palestine Liberation Front. He participated in the kidnapping of an Israeli family in 1979. He was convicted of murdering three Israelis during the raid – an Israeli policeman, a 31 year-old man, and his 4-year-old daughter – but denied killing the latter two. Kuntar received four life sentences in an Israeli court, and spent nearly three decades in prison before being released on July 16, 2008 as part of a Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap. In Israel, Kuntar is considered "one of the most brutal" terrorists, responsible for killing three people directly and one indirectly, including two children.

Raid from Southern Lebanon

On April 22, 1979, at the age of 16, Samir Kuntar led a group of four PLF members who entered Israel from Lebanon by boat. The group members included Abdel Majeed Asslan (born in 1955), Mhanna Salim Al-Muayed (born in 1960) and Ahmed AlAbras (born in 1949). They all belonged to the PLF under the leadership of Abu Abbas. The group departed from the seashore of Tyre in Southern Lebanon using a 55 horse-powered motorized rubber boat with an 88 km/h speed. The goal of the operation was to attack Nahariya, 10 kilometers away from the Lebanese border. They called their operation the Nasser Operation.

Around midnight they arrived at the coastal town of Nahariya. The four killed a policeman, Eliyahu Shahar, who came across them. The group then entered a building on Jabotinsky Street where they formed two groups. One group broke into the apartment of the Haran family before police reinforcements had arrived. They took 31 year-old Danny Haran hostage along with his four year-old daughter, Einat. The mother, Smadar Haran, was able to hide in a crawl space above the bedroom with her two year-old daughter Yael, and a neighbor.

Shootout and killings

Israeli witnesses said that Kuntar's group took Danny and Einat down to the beach, where a shootout with Israeli policemen and soldiers erupted. According to the witnesses, when Kuntar's group found that the rubber boat they'd arrived in was disabled by gunfire, Kuntar shot Danny at close range in the back, in front of his daughter, and drowned him in the sea to ensure he was dead. Next, eyewitnesses said he smashed the head of 4 year-old Einat on beach rocks and crushed her skull with the butt of his rifle. Smadar Haran accidentally suffocated Yael to death while attempting to quiet her whimpering, which would have revealed their hiding place, where she saw Danny and Einat being led away at gunpoint by Kuntar. A policeman and two of Kuntar's comrades were killed in the shootout on the beach; Kuntar and the fourth member of the group, Ahmed AlAbras, were captured. Alabras was freed by Israel in the Jibril Agreement of May 1985.

Trial

Kuntar was tried and convicted of murdering five people by an Israeli court in 1980, and sentenced to five life sentences (one for each murder), and an additional 47 years for injuries inflicted. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kuntar had initially admitted to bludgeoning Einat to death after being captured, but at his trial, and consistently thereafter, he denied killing the 4-year-old. In his testimony, Kuntar asserted that Israeli gunfire had killed Danny Haran as soldiers burst in to free him, and that he did not see what happened to Einat after passing out from blood lost from five bullet wounds. He explained that the group's goal had been to take hostages back to Lebanon, and that he had taken the 4-year-old to prevent Israeli police from shooting at them.

On July 13 2008, after being classified for nearly thirty years, File No. 578/79, containing the evidence and testimony from Kuntar's 1980 trial, was first published. The pathologist's report presented at the trial stated that Einat's brain matter was found on the butt of Kuntar's rifle.

After his release, Kuntar further claimed that the Israeli government had "fabricated" the child murder. According to his former cellmate, Yasser Hanjar, Kuntar "never expressed remorse, but maintains a different version than the Israeli one", that he only wanted to take the Israeli family hostage, and that he "firmly rejected allegations he had smashed the head of 4-year-old Einat Haran."

Treatment in prison

During his imprisonment, Kuntar married an Israeli Arab woman who is an activist on behalf of militant prisoners, but divorced her. While they were married, she received a monthly stipend from the Israeli government, an entitlement due to her status as a wife of a prisoner. Also during his imprisonment Kuntar graduated from the Open University of Israel in social and political science.

Negotiations for release

Several years later, the Palestinian Liberation Front seized the Achille Lauro, an Italian cruise ship, demanding that Israel release Kuntar, along with 50 other Palestinian prisoners, though Kuntar was the only prisoner specifically named. The hijackers killed a wheelchair-bound American Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer during this raid and had his body and wheelchair thrown overboard.

In 2003, Israel agreed to release around 400 prisoners in exchange for businessman Elchanan Tenenbaum and the bodies of three soldiers held by Hezbollah since 2000. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah refused to accept the deal unless it included Samir Kuntar. "Hezbollah's conditions have become clear and defined, and we are sticking to them in all circumstances", Nasrallah declared in his statement.

Israel then agreed to release Samir Kuntar on condition that Hezbollah provided "solid evidence" as to the fate of Ron Arad, an air force navigator missing in Lebanon since 1986.

Inspired by the prisoner swap, Hamas vowed, a few days later, that they would also abduct Israeli soldiers to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners. Hassan Nasrallah simultaneously told his supporters that Hezbollah would continue to kidnap Israelis until "not a single prisoner" remained inside Israeli jails.

In 2006, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and UN envoy Terje Rød-Larsen proposed a deal in which Kuntar and all other Lebanese prisoners would be released on condition that Syria declared Shebaa farms as Lebanese territory, the Lebanese deployed troops on the country's southern border with Israel, Israel withdrew from Shebaa farms and the Israeli air force stopped flying over Lebanon, Israeli occupation ended, Hezbollah was disarmed and Hezbollah was removed from the border areas.

Abduction of Israeli soldiers

Main article: Zar'it-Shtula incident

On July 12 2006 Hezbollah attacked an Israeli border patrol, killed eight soldiers, and captured two others, sparking the 2006 Lebanon War. The captured soldiers were meant to be released in exchange for Samir Kuntar. In subsequent interviews on Al-Manar TV station Dr Mohamad Jawad Khalifeh, the Lebanese Minster of Health, congratulated Hezbollah for "its great actions" and said that "Lebanon has the right to regain its prisoners and liberate them". Ali Ammar, a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament, stated his opinion that "particularly at this basic stage in the history of the homeland and the nation, this government should have expressed solidarity with its people and let Samir Quntar feel that he is a Lebanese par excellence. Kuntar was released on Wednesday 16th of July 2008. "

Prisoner exchange deal

Main article: 2008 Israel-Hezbollah Prisoner Swap

On May 26, 2008, Israeli sources announced that Samir Kuntar was among those who would be exchanged for the two reservists, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, captured by Hezbollah. On June 29, 2008 the Israeli ministers cabinet approved the prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel which would involve the release of Kuntar despite intelligence stating that the two soldiers are almost certainly dead. Kuntar and four other prisoners being released as part of the deal are the last of the Lebanese prisoners in Israeli custody. Also part of the deal would be the release of the remains of other Lebanese from all other previous wars and, after a suitable interval, dozens of Palestinian prisoners.


On July 16, 2008, Hezbollah transferred coffins containing the remains of captured Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in exchange for Kuntar and four Hezbollah members taken prisoner during the 2006 Lebanon War.


Reception in Lebanon

Upon the arrival of Samir Kuntar along with four other freed Lebanese prisoners to Beirut airport, Kuntar was officially received by the Lebanese president Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, Speaker of Parliament of Lebanon Nabih Berri, some members of Parliament of Lebanon and Muslim and Christian clerics.

A public celebration was organized by Hezbollah in Dahieh (Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut) where Hassan Nasrallah gave a welcoming speech to Samir.

On July 17, 2008, Kuntar paid tribute at the tomb of Imad Mughniyeh. Later in the day a homecoming function was organized in Kuntar's native village Aabey, located south-east of Beirut. The ceremony was addressed by PSP leader Walid Jumblatt and the Labour Minister and member of Hezbollah Mohammad Fneish.

See also

References

  1. Beyer, Lisa, "A Mother's Anguish Renewed", Time Magazine, July 25, 2006. Retrieved on July 7, 2008.
  2. A celebration of evil, The Jerusalem Post (July 15, 2008). Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  3. Days before swap deal, Kuntar starts bidding cellmates good-bye, Haaretz, 14/07/2008. Retrieved on July 18, 2008.
  4. "Samir Kuntar". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2006-07-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (July 14, 2008). "The Kuntar File, Exposed". Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  6. Beyer, Lisa, "A Mother's Anguish Renewed", Time Magazine, July 25, 2006. Retrieved on July 7, 2008.
  7. ^ Kaiser, Smadar Haran, "The World Should Know What He Did to My Family", Washington Post, May 18, 2003. Retrieved on July 7, 2008.
  8. Heller, Aron, "For Israel, prisoner swap evokes raw memories", AP, July 16, 2008. Retrieved on July 16, 2008.
  9. Prisoner Deal Reopens an Israeli Wound, New York Times, 16 July 2008
  10. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1417738.php/Kuntar_accuses_Israel_of_fabricating_story_of_child_killing__Extra_
  11. Khoury, Jack (2008-07-01). "Former cellmate says Samir Kuntar never meant to kill anyone". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  12. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1215330995555
  13. "Nasrallah: no prisoner swap without Samir Kuntar". Canadian Jewish News. November 13 2003. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ""Israel backs deal with Hizbullah to swap prisoners"". The Guardian. November 10 2003. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |title= (help)
  15. "Israel agrees to free prisoners in secret deal with Hizbullah". The Irish Times. January 26 2004. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. "Arad could alter release criteria". The Jerusalem Post. January 27 2004. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |title= (help)
  17. "ROUNDUP: Hamas, Hezbollah vow to abduct more Israeli soldiers". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. January 30 2004. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. "Diplomatic maneuvers". Mideast Mirror. June 1 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. "Lebanese Hezbollah TV talk show discusses implications of operation". BBC Worldwide Monitoring. January 13 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. Stern, Yoav and Yossi Melman, "Israel says Hezbollah exchange deal is close", Ha'aretz, May 27, 2008. Retrieved on July 7, 2008.
  21. Keinon, Herb. "Soldiers set to be returned to Israel in 10 days", Jerusalem Post, June 29, 2008. Retrieved on July 7, 2008.
  22. "Another bad deal", Jerusalem Post, June 2, 2008. Retrieved on July 7, 2008.
  23. "UN identifying bodies presumed to be of Goldwasser, Regev". The Jerusalem Post. 2008-07-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. "Coffins said to hold bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev taken to Israel-Lebanon border". Haaretz. 2008-07-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. "Kuntar receives a hero's welcome", Jerusalem Post, Jul 17, 2008. Retrieved on July 20, 2008.
  26. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=94245

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