UN envoy condemns killing of Israeli soldier, urges self-restraint

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UN envoy condemns killing of Israeli soldier, urges self-restraint

(Xinhua) 19:12, September 22, 2013

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UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, condemned on Sunday the abduction and killing of Israeli soldier Tomer Hazan by a Palestinian who intended to trade the soldier's body for the release of his jailed brother.

In a statement, Serry emphasized the need for calm on the ground during this "critical moment" in the U.S.-led Israeli- Palestinian peace talks, which restarted on July 30 after a three- year halt.

The UN envoy said the "shocking murder follows a series of violent incidents in the West Bank."

In the past weeks, several Palestinians were killed in Jenin and Qalandia during raids of the Israel army intended to arrest militants.

He urged both Israelis and Palestinians to act responsibly and avoid actions that risk undermining the prospects for the resumed negotiations.

Serry issued his statement only a few hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel's Army Radio that "The criminal incident proves once again that the fight against terrorism is constant."

Nadal Amar, a 42-year-old Palestinian from Bet Amin village near Qalqiliya in northern West Bank, persuaded Hazan, 20-year-old Israeli soldier, who had previously worked with him at a restaurant in coastal city of Bat Yam, to join him on Friday morning to the area of his residence.

According to the Shin Bet intelligence agency, Amer confessed to leading the soldier to an open area north of the village of Siniria, where he murdered the soldier and concealed his body in a water well.

During the investigation in the Shin Bet, Amar said that the motive for murdering the soldier was to trade his body for the release of his brother, Nur Al Din Amar, a Tanzim Fatah operative imprisoned since 2003 for his involvement in several murderous attacks against Israeli citizens.

Immediately after Hazan's family reported him missing on Friday, the entire Israeli security system began an extensive search operation in order to find the soldier before he becomes a " bargain tool" to free Palestinian prisoners, as was the case with the former soldier Gilad Shalit.

Shalit was abducted on June 2006 by Hamas in Gaza and was released after about five years in a prisoner swap deal which cost Israel the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.