Friends and relatives mourn during the funeral procession of Israeli soldier Dvir Sorek in the Jewish settlement of Ofra in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 8, 2019. REUTERS/Corinna Kern Israeli authorities arrested a Palestinian suspect on Aug. 9 as the manhunt is still underway for those who murdered Dvir Sorek on Aug. 8, according to the Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post.
Sorek, who was serving in the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) hesder program where he could be a soldier and study at a Yeshiva simultaneously, was stabbed to death near the Migdal Oz area while he was walking home from Jerusalem. He was a few days away from turning 19.
The arrested suspect was identified in Palestinian media reports as 29-year-old Amar Mansur Thawabata, who lives in Beit Fajjar, a Palestinian village south of Bethlehem. Israeli authorities also confiscated the suspect’s vehicle. It’s not clear what role the suspect played in Sorek’s murder.
The IDF has not publicly commented on the matter; earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Facebook video earlier in the day “we are on our way” toward capturing Sorek’s murderer and “it won’t take long.”
Sorek’s funeral was on Aug. 8. Thousands attended, and Sorek’s father Yoav said in the eulogy that the “evil lovers of death” won’t erase the positive memories he has of his son.
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