Sheikh Omar Barghouti, a well-known Hamas leader in Judea and Samaria, died of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Thursday, the terror organizations announced.
Hamas said he died in Ramallah “after a life full of jihad, sacrifice, giving, and fighting the occupation.”
He was one of three terrorists who murdered an Israeli in 1978. He was captured and spent 27 years in prison until his release as part of the Jibril Deal in 1985.
He has since been in and out of Israeli prison.
His son Assem Barghouti was convicted in February 2020 of murdering IDF soldiers Yuval Mor-Yosef and Yosef Cohen, and the baby Amiad Yisrael Ish-Ran, in two terrorist attacks in the Binyamin region in December 2018.
Another soldier, Netanel Felber, suffered critical gunshot wounds to his head.
Saleh Barghouti, Assem’s brother, who participated in one of the attacks, was killed by Israeli forces in December 2018 while escaping arrest.
Nail Barghouti, Omar’s brother, is imprisoned in Israel. He was sent to prison for the murder he carried out with his brother in 1978, was released as part of the Shalit Deal in 2011 and was arrested three years later for breaching his parole agreement banning him from involvement in terrorism.
Hamas “mourns the great leader, the man of determination, and remembers his honorable history and his journey in resisting the occupier,” it stated.