The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, who self-identifies as the military wing of Fatah, stated that "the heroic operation is a natural response to the (Israeli) occupation crimes against our people in West Bank and Gaza Strip.

[12] Attacks on Jewish settlers in the West Bank had been defended by some Palestinian militants on previous occasions, describing them as combatants in the conflict rather than civilians.

Mazen had previously been arrested and tried by the Palestinian Authority and served a five-year prison sentence for murdering a female cousin and burning her body.

His uncle Jibril was a PFLP militant who had participated in a 2002 attack against Itamar which left four civilians dead, including three children,[15] along with the settlement's security officer, and was killed in a 2003 clash with Israeli troops.

[8] Several media sources, among them the Guardian and the Washington Post, first reported that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, the dominant political faction in the West Bank, claimed responsibility for the attack,[18] whereas the Jerusalem Post reported, that the "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Imad Mughniyeh" had claimed responsibility, a group named after a Hezbollah chief of military operations and liaison with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in 2008.

[20] According to Israeli investigators, Amjad and Hakim Awad had attempted to acquire weapons from a Popular Front militant in Awarta.

Rabbi Cohen, who later entered the house with the girl, said that her two-year-old brother "was lying next to his bleeding parents, shaking them with his hands and trying to get them to wake up, while crying...

"[33] The funeral of the five victims on Sunday, 13 March at Har HaMenuchot Cemetery in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, was attended by some 20,000 people and broadcast on Israeli television.

"[37] Following the end of the 30-day mourning period, an emotional memorial service was held in Itamar, where the cornerstone for a new kollel to be named after Udi Fogel was laid.

Hundreds of people attended, including Sephardi Chief Rabbi Moshe Amar, Knesset members Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) and Uri Ariel (National Union), and Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan.

Many participants signed a Megillah scroll, which was recited by former Military Rabbinate Chief and Yeshiva head Avichai Rontzki before being placed within the foundations of the new kollel.

Israeli troops set up checkpoints on the roads leading to the city and prevented vehicles and pedestrians from leaving or entering, according to Palestinians.

[29] Due to the characteristics of the killings, the IDF estimated that the attack was not carried out by an organized terrorist infrastructure but was the work of one or two people, presumably Palestinian.

[43] An IDF tracker spotted indications that the perpetrators had scaled the fence, and found footprints and equipment abandoned by the killers leading out of Itamar.

[40] IDF soldiers and Israel Border Police gendarmes also entered the villages of Sanur and Zababdeh, arresting several dozen Palestinians.

[46] A week later, AFP reported that the IDF arrested more than 100 women from the village, placing them in a camp where they were fingerprinted and DNA samples were taken, before most of them were released.

On 5 June 2011, Amjad and Hakim Awad were indicted before the Judea and Samaria Sector Military Court on five counts of murder, stealing weapons, breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The suspects confessed to the murder and the military prosecution in the case presented forensic evidence linking them to the scene of the crime, including DNA samples and fingerprints.

[59] In response to the Itamar attack, on 13 March, the Israeli cabinet approved the construction of 500 housing units in Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel and Modi'in Illit, areas of the West Bank that Israel intends to keep under any permanent accord with the Palestinians.

"[63] On 4 April 2011, a new bill was proposed by MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima) to keep murderers of children from being included in prisoner exchanges and allowing them to be pardoned by the President at any future date.

[65] According to Palestinian sources and the BBC, Israeli settlers vandalized property near Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah in revenge for the Fogel murders.

Activists protested near Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University students held at rally near Highway 4, chanting "enough to violence and incitement – talk to humans not murderers".

[71] On 17 March, two Palestinian workers employed in Shilo were attacked by masked men armed with iron rods and pepper spray, as was an Israeli security guard who attempted to protect them.

[72] An opinion poll conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found, according to the groups, "In light of the attack in Itamar, 59% among Israelis oppose and 33% support the government policy to relax the security measures in the West Bank such as the removal of road blocks."

[13] A paramedic interviewed in an Israeli newspaper stated that on the day of the attack, residents of Itamar saw fireworks and celebrations in nearby Palestinian communities.

"[85] Pastor of the Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem, Reverend Jacques DeGraff, told the gathered mourners, "I'm here today because it is not enough for the friends of Israel to issue a statement.

[87] Gary Rosenblatt, editor-in-chief of The Jewish Week, commented that reactions to the Itamar killings may have been more muted given that the victims were religious Israelis living in a small West Bank settlement.

[88] A delegation of Italian Jews from Rome visited Itamar on 30 March and extended a donation of €25,000 to support the three surviving children of the Fogel family.

"[89] A team of Finnish performers wrote a song in memory of the Fogel family for the annual Benei Akiva Jewish Eurovision contest, held this year in Rome, Italy.

The team was inspired by the fact that daughter Tamar Fogel's life was spared owing to her being out of the house at the time of the attack, attending a Benei Akiva event.