Aftermath
The murder caused great shock amongst the Israeli public. The Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated in response to the murder that the attack was a "heinous crime committed by vile killers, lacking human dignity. The Security forces will not spare any effort to reach the murderers so that they would be punished severely." Thousands of people attended Rahum's funeral which was held on 19 January at noon in the Ashkelon cemetery. Rahum's gravestone was built in the form of a personal computer.
Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations wrote to the Secretary-General to protest the "recent acts of Palestinian terrorism directed against Israeli civilians".
Awana was tried, and eventually convicted of murder in February 2003 and sentenced to life imprisonment. She was later transferred to the Neveh Tirza prison in 2006 after attacking another inmate.
Though the Israeli government initially said that Awana would not be part of the deal, she was released to Gaza on October 18, 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas. Awana is now residing in exile in Turkey.
Read more about this topic: Murder Of Ofir Rahum
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“The aftermath of joy is not usually more joy.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)