update deskIsrael at War

Comatose terrorist treated by Israeli hospital for past seven months

The medical center and police want to be free of the responsibility, but the murderer's family isn't paying the fee to have him transported.

Hadassah-Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem. Photo by Moshe Shai/Flash90.
Hadassah-Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem. Photo by Moshe Shai/Flash90.

One of the terrorists who murdered Matan Elmaleh, 26, from Ma’ale Adumim, and wounded six others in February, has been lying in a vegetative state in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem ever since.

The hospital, frustrated that the terrorist has taken up a valuable bed for the past seven months, wants him gone, noting there is no reason he can’t be treated elsewhere, including by his family.

The police, expending resources to guard him, also wants to be free of the responsibility. The police turned to the military court, asking that the comatose terrorist be removed from the hospital.

The military court agreed to the request, but set a condition that the terrorist’s family pay 20,000 shekels ($5,300). However, the family isn’t paying, as it’s comfortable with having him cared for at the hospital, Channel 13 reported.

“The military court determined that due to the terrorist’s medical condition, he can be released from custody under restrictive conditions, which include a financial deposit. Since his family did not meet the conditions set forth, the terrorist remains in the hospital in a detainee status—and accordingly, the police continue to guard him,” the police said.

There is also a dispute between the police and Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) over which branch has responsibility for the terrorist.

Three terrorists carried out the attack on Feb. 22 on the Route 1 highway near Ma’ale Adumim, 4.3 miles east of Jerusalem in Judea.

The Shin Bet identified them as Mohamed Zawahra, 26, from Ta’amra, his brother, Kathem Zawahra, 31, from Bethlehem and Ahmed al-Wash, 31, a resident of Za’atara.

Police said the terrorists were armed with assault rifles and a grenade.

The terrorists arrived in two cars and parked a distance of one kilometer (0.6 miles) from each other in the middle of the highway, creating a traffic jam. They exited their cars and began firing at the blocked vehicles.

One Israeli who assisted in killing the terrorist, Hanania Ben Shimon, was an IDF reservist who had just been released from service in the Gaza Strip a week and a half prior.

Waiting in a car with his mother on the way to his job as a tour guard, he leapt out of his vehicle and engaged one of the terrorists at point-blank range, killing him. Ben Shimon was wounded in the exchange of gunfire.

Two of the terrorists were killed by Israeli security forces and armed civilians.

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