On 7 August 2019, 18-year-old yeshiva student Dvir Sorek was stabbed to death near the Israeli settlement of Migdal Oz.
Incident
Sorek was an 18-year-old Yeshiva student, was traveling alone from his yeshiva (named Machanayim) to Jerusalem to buy books for his rabbis as a gift for the end of the school year. He was apparently attacked on his way back, by (it was believed) two assailants, near a bus stop. Despite initially believing that his death was a kidnapping, Israeli security forces came to the conclusion that Soreks' death was a premeditated murder.
Two Palestinian men, 24-year-old Nazir Saleh Khalil Atafra and 30-year-old Qasem Araf Khalil Atafra, were arrested for the murder. Their houses were demolished.
Funeral
His funeral was held in Ofra, where Sorek’s family resided, the next day and thousands of people attended. Sorek’s father performed the eulogy.
Reactions
- The United Nations peace envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, called the killing a "dangerous act."
- The United Kingdom ambassador to Israel, Neil Wigan, hoped that the killers would "be brought to justice."
Aftermath
Two Palestinians accused of the murder were captured by Israeli soldiers in the village of Beit Kahil outside Hebron. The suspects were identified as 24-year-old Nazir Saleh Khalil Atafra, a Hamas terrorist, and 30-year-old Qasem Araf Khalil Atafra. Qassem was also convicted of a 2011 attempted murder of two Israeli civilians in Beersheba. In December 2021, the two cousins were sentenced to life imprisonment. Qassem was given a 40-year sentence, with Nasir handed an additional 20 years.