Israeli security forces reportedly apprehended a Palestinian man on Friday in connection with the stabbing death in the West Bank of 19-year-old Israeli yeshivah student and Israel Defense Forces’ recruit Dvir Sorek.
IDF soldiers also reportedly seized the suspect’s car, which is suspected to have been used in Wednesday’s attack.
The suspect has been identified as Ammar Thawabteh, 29, of the Palestinian village of Beit Fajjar. His role in the attack is currently unknown.
The IDF has yet to confirm the reported arrest, saying it was still searching for those responsible in the incident.
“We are going to catch these murderers,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ensured viewers in a Facebook video message, referring to the killers who fled the scene after the attack.
Netanyahu added, “According to a briefing I received a short while ago, we are on our way. It won’t take very long.”
Sorek, a student at Ohr Torah Mahanayim yeshivah between Efrat and Migdal Oz, was reported missing on Wednesday night when he failed to return following a trip to Jerusalem to buy a book for his rabbi as an end-of-year gift from his class.
According to the IDF, initial findings indicate that Dvir was abducted and murdered at a different location, and that his body was then dumped near Migdal Oz. A search operation is currently being conducted in Beit Fajjar, an Arab enclave close to where the body was found.
The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization said the killing was “heroic” and sent “an important message.”
Almost 1,000 people attended Sorek’s funeral on Thursday at a cemetery in the Etzion settlement bloc, reported The Times of Israel.
“In a few days, we were going to celebrate your 19th birthday,” said Dvir’s father, Yoav Sorek, at the funeral service. “I think of those 19 years and cannot refrain from smiling, because your memory evokes a beaming face, positive thinking, innocence and love of mankind.”
“You are light, and you have gone away from us,” the grieving father added, “and we’ll try to return light and goodness, to strengthen the family despite the pain, to adhere to life, to bring light. May your pure soul, Dvirik, be safe in the bond of eternal life.”
