The 2005 Shilo shooting was the murder of four

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

laborer A laborer ( or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor typed within the construction industry. There is a generic factory laborer which is defined separately as a factory worker. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in whic ...

s in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

on 17 August 2005. Israeli driver Asher Weisgan killed the men in an effort to derail the

Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the West Bank were dismantled as well. The disengagement was executed unilaterally: Israeli au ...

Shooting

Asher Weisgan (born ) was a resident of

Shvut Rachel Shvut Rachel () is a former Israeli 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 Ayya, Qaryut and Jalud, part of ...

and a driver for Palestinian laborers near the West Bank

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

Shilo, Mateh Binyamin Shilo ( ') is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Located 28 miles (45 km) north of Jerusalem on Highway 60 (Israel–Palestine), Route 60 and organised as a religious community settlement (Israel), community settlement, it ...

. 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, factory guard, 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.) ...

M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...

, 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 ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

; Halil Salah (aged 42) from

Qalqilya Qalqilya or Qalqiliya () is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate. The city had a population of 51,683 in 2017. Qalqilya is surrounded by the Israeli West Bank barrier, Israeli We ...

; and Osama Moussa Tawafsha (aged 33) from Sanjil. 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; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, and preventing the further removal of

Israelis Israelis (; ) are the Israeli citizenship law, citizens and nationals of the Israel, State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Israeli Jews, Jews and Arab citizens of Israel, Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percen ...

from their homes in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and northern

(as part of the

Trial

Weisgan was convicted of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

. On 27 September 2006, Weisgan was sentenced by the

Jerusalem District Court The Jerusalem District Court () is located in the Jerusalem District of Israel. It was originally established by the Mandatory Palestine government and has continued its operations under the judicial system of the State of Israel since its establ ...

to pay

restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...

of , and to four

back-to-back life sentences In judicial practice, back-to-back life sentences, also called consecutive life sentences, are two or more consecutive life sentences given to a convicted felon. This practice is used to ensure the felon will never be released from prison. This ...

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, Weisgan died from

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered to ...

in his

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

on 22 December 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiloh shooting 2005 mass shootings in Asia 2005 murders in Asia 21st-century mass murder in Palestine anti-Palestinian sentiment in Israel August 2005 crimes in Asia August 2005 in Asia deaths in police custody in Israel history of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Israeli disengagement from Gaza Israeli settler violence Mass shootings in Palestine terrorist incidents in the West Bank in 2005 he:טרור יהודי בישראל#אשר ויזגן

Shooting

Trial

See also

References