‘A life for a life is fair – even when one of them shot my father dead’


‘A life for a life is fair – even when one of them shot my father dead’

25 January 2025 6:00am GMT Richard Lakin decided to take the bus on his way home from a doctor’s appointment in Jerusalem precisely because he thought it would be safer than walking. But when two Hamas-affiliated terrorists jumped aboard and began a murderous rampage, he didn’t stand a chance. The 76-year-old was stabbed multiple times in the face and chest, before finally being shot in the head. One of the terrorists was killed on the spot by an off-duty police officer, but the other, Bilal Abu Ghanem, survived. On Saturday, Richard’s son, American-Israeli Micah Avni, may well be forced to watch the man who murdered his father in October 2015 walk free, one of 70 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released in exchange for four Israeli hostages held by Hamas. It is a day Mr Avni has feared for nine years.