Israel Refuses to Transfer Remains of Arch Terrorist to PA

Ynetnews reports: The remains of Abu Jihad, the former deputy to Yasser Arafat head of the armed wing of Fatah who was assassinated by Israel in 1988, will not be transferred to Palestinian Authority territory for burial.

Head of the Coordination for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai made the decision final on Tuesday.

The Palestinian Authority made the request to transfer the remains after the cemetery in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus – where Abu Jihad is buried – was destroyed by ISIS.

Abu Jihad, who is also known as Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir, was born in 1935 in the city of Ramla, between Jerusalem and Jaffa. His family relocated to Gaza following the War of Independence. Abu Jihad was studying at Alexandria University in Egypt where he became friendly with a young Yasser Arafat in the 1950s.

The two would later found the Fatah movement. He would then later become one of the chief architects of attacks against Israel, orchestrating the Savoy hotel attack in March 1975 and the coastal road massacre in March 1978.