Gay Palestinian man who fled to Israel to escape persecution murdered and beheaded in West Bank

A young gay man, who fled to Israel to escape persecution in Palestine and was seeking asylum abroad, has been kidnapped and brutally murdered in the West Bank.

Ahmed Hacham Hamdi Abu Marakhia, 25, fled Palestine two years ago after his sexual orientation was revealed. He had been living in Israel after authorities acknowledged his life would be in danger if he returned to Palestine.

He was about to begin the process of seeking asylum abroad – potentially in Canada – at the time of his death. 

Ahmed was killed Wednesday (5 October) in Hebron, a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, Mako reported. A horrific video of his decapitated body lying on a roadside was circulated on Palestinian social networks.

Authorities have opened an investigation into Ahmed’s death, but his friends and activists in Israel believed the reason for his death was his sexual orientation. 

Israeli Labour Party MK Ibtisam Mara’ana mourned Ahmed’s death in a message posted on social media.

“Ahmad, who stayed in an Israeli shelter due to his sexuality, was murdered by a vicious and twisted killer,” she wrote.

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