Amichai’s disappearance on Friday morning had triggered a massive search effort, culminating in the grim discovery that sent shockwaves through the community.
By Pesach Benson, TPS
After more than 24 hours of searching, the body of a 14 year-old Israeli shepherd was found mutilated near a farm in Israel’s Binyamin region on Saturday, triggering clashes between Jews and Palestinians.
Benyamin Amichai, a 14-year-old from Jerusalem disappeared on Friday morning while out with a flock of sheep from the Angels of Peace farm. According to Elisha Yered, a spokesperson for the farms in the Binyamin area, Amichai was stabbed and beaten with rocks so many times that search teams couldn’t immediately identify the body.
The attack came after three Palestinian terror cells that planned to kidnap shepherds on the farm were arrested during the past two weeks.
A preliminary investigation concluded that terrorists ambushed Amichai on the farm about 100 meters away from a barn and that he fought back before eventually being subdued. The investigation also concluded he was killed on Friday, either in the morning or early afternoon.
Yered said that “Dozens, if not hundreds” of Palestinian attacks on shepherds and agricultural workers in Judea and Samaria have taken place in the past year.
Palestinians clashed with soldiers searching for Amichai and his killers, throwing rocks and firebombs at security personnel.
Jews and Palestinians in nearby communities clashed on Saturday in the towns of al-Mughayyir and Duma, where security forces had focused much of the search, and other nearby villages. Several homes and cars in those villages were torched. According to the Israel Defense Forces, dozens of Israelis and Palestinians were injured before calm was restored.
The IDF added that the search for Amichai’s killers is continuing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned “the heinous murder,” in a statement.
“We will get the murderers and those who helped them, as we do to all who harm the citizens of the State of Israel,” the prime minister said.
Since October 7, Israeli security forces have arrested more than 3,700 Palestinian terror suspects, of whom 1,600 are Hamas members of Hamas.
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