The 2005 Shilo shooting was the murder of four Palestinian

laborer A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries e ...

s in the West Bank on 17 August 2005. Israeli driver Asher Weisgan killed the men in an effort to derail the Israeli disengagement from Gaza.

Shooting

A father of two children, Asher Weisgan (born in ) was a resident of

Shvut Rachel Shvut Rachel ( he, שבות רחל) is a former Israeli illegal settlement in the West Bank, retroactively designated a "neighborhood" of the settlement of Shilo, in the West Bank. Shvut Rachel sits between the Palestinian villages of Turmus Ay ...

and a driver for Palestinian laborers near the West Bank

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

Shilo, Mateh Binyamin Shilo ( he, שִׁלֹה / שילה ' is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Located 28 miles (45 km) north of Jerusalem on Route 60 and organised as a religious community settlement, it is neighboured by the Israeli settle ...

. On 17 August 2005, sometime after 5:00P.M., Weisgan used a knife to steal a

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

's M16 rifle, and then killed four Palestinians before turning himself in to security. Weisgan was well-acquainted with the men, having known and eaten with them for years. The fatalities of the shooting were Mohammed Mansour (aged 48) and Bassam Tauase (aged 30), both from

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

; Halil Salah (aged 42) from

Qalqilya Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41, ...

; and Osama Moussa Tawafsha (aged 33) from Sanjil, near

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

. Another man, Ruhi Qassam, was only wounded by Weisgan. Saying he had no regrets about his actions, Weisgan had wanted to spur an Arab reprisal, thereby engaging the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, and preventing the further removal of Israelis from their homes in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

and northern West Bank (as part of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza).

Trial

Weisgan was convicted of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. On 27 September 2006, Weisgan was sentenced by the

Jerusalem District Court Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

to pay restitution of , and to four back-to-back life sentences plus twelve years. According to Israeli human rights groups, convictions were rare for Israelis who commit crimes in the West Bank. Imprisoned in

Ayalon Prison Ayalon Prison (), formerly known as Ramla Prison, is a maximum-security prison located in Ramla, Israel. It is managed by the Israel Prison Service. The prison was opened in 1950, and was built in the style of the Tegart forts from the Briti ...

, Weisgan died from suicide by hanging in his cell on 22 December 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiloh shooting 2005 murders in Israel 21st-century mass murder in Israel August 2005 crimes August 2005 events in Asia History of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Israeli disengagement from Gaza Mass shootings in Israel Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2005 Shilo shooting, 2005 Deaths in police custody in Israel he:טרור יהודי בישראל#אשר ויזגן