Security services arrested a Palestinian terrorist on suspicion of murdering Israel Prison Service dog handler Yochai Avni in his home in the Samaria town of Givon Hahadasha earlier this month, the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said on Monday.
Ibrahim Mansur—a resident of Biddu, located just southwest of Givon Hahadasha in the Binyamin region of Samaria—was arrested two days after the July 8 murder, the statement said. Authorities established that Mansur is a member of Hamas.
A military court extended the suspect’s detention until at least July 29 while the investigation continues.
Avni, 40, was found dead two weeks ago in his burned home in Givon Hahadasha, northwest of Jerusalem, with stab wounds to his body. Police initially issued a statement emphasizing that “all directions are being investigated,” and a gag order was placed on the publication of the details of the probe and the identity of possible suspects.
Relatives immediately believed he was the victim of terrorism, his sister said on the day following the murder. Avni “preserved his innocence, even though he was in the most harsh place, saw terrorists and worked with a difficult population,” sister Nitzan told Ynet of his employment at the high-security Ofer Prison.
She insisted that her brother “didn’t have a single enemy,” adding, “We believe it was a terrorist attack.”
Avni started his career in the Border Police before enlisting in the Prison Service, where he served many years, she said. “Prison guards look like tough people, but he wasn’t like that,” she continued. “He was a man of peace and wrote on Facebook: ‘Stop the wars.’ I am sure that, even in the prison, he gave respect to every person regardless of who they are.”
Ofer Prison is located between Ramallah and Givat Ze’ev in Samaria. It is one of the Jewish state’s three high-security facilities, along with Megiddo Prison in the north and Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev.
