As part of a plea bargain with the Israeli prosecutors, Harouf was sentenced to life imprisonment after confessing to murdering Halimi on nationalistic (terror) grounds.
Harouf’s indictment states that he entered Israel illegally and began developing a “personal” connection with Halimi. The indictment does not describe their connection as a romantic relationship, despite the fact that it was regarded as such all throughout the police investigation.
In May of 2017, Halimi, who was pregnant, came to visit Harouf in his workplace. After trying unsuccessfully to convince her to come to Nablus with him, he proceeded to strangle her for about 15 minutes until he was certain she was dead. He then hid her body under a pile of dirt, took her car and credit cards and fled to Tayibe.
