The body of Haim Cohen Halala, 39, one of four Beirut Jews kidnapped by Shiite Moslem extremists last March, was found by police today in the no-man’s-land between Christian east Beirut and the Moslem-populated western part of the city. The murdered man was identified by the police.
A Moslem group calling itself the “Organization of the Oppressed of the Earth” also identified him and took credit for the killing. It issued a statement saying: “We announce to the souls of the martyrs and to our Islamic nation the execution of Israeli spy Haim Cohen Halala in response to the massive shelling of south Lebanon in which several strugglers were killed.”
Halala was abducted by six gunmen on March 29 from his home in Wadi Abu Jamil, the Jewish quarter in west Beirut. The fate of the other three Jews seized at the same time is not known.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
