Israel arrests 2 Palestinians suspected of murdering student

The IDF arrested two Palestinians suspected of stabbing to death 18-year-old student Dvir Sorek this week.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

The Israeli army said in a statement Saturday that members of the cell that killed Dvir Sorek, 18, outside a town near Hebron were arrested and the car they used in the attack was seized.

Israel’s Channel 13 TV reported that the suspects were two relatives from Hebron. Sorek was found with stab wounds near the yeshiva in which he studied.

According to the Shin Bet, the two suspects were identified as Nasir Asafra, 24, and his cousin Qassem Asafra, 30, both of Beit Kahil, Times of Israel reported. The IDF said Nasir is a Hamas member, but neither suspect had prior arrests.

According to the Times, the two family members were asleep at home around 3 a.m. when security forces showed up and apprehended them.

Two other family members were also detained in the raid, Qassem’s wife Ines and Nasir’s brother Akrama, based on evidence that these two helped the suspects hide after the murder.

During the arrest, around 100 Beit Kahil residents attacked troops with stones.

Following the murder, Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised intelligence and security forces for locating and arresting the suspects.

“We will continue to fight terrorism intensely on all fronts,” he wrote on his Twitter account.

Hamas, the terror group that controls the Gaza Strip, accused the Palestinian Authority, its rival in Judea and Samaria, of cooperating with Israel to identify the terrorists behind the killing.

“We have always warned against the security liaison between the Authority’s security in [Judea and Samaria] and [Israel’s] army,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.