West Bank, manhunt on for killer of Israeli soldier

The victim is Dvir Sorek, grandson of a famous rabbi killed in the 2000s.  In a few days he would have turned 19.  For the Israeli authorities the members of the commando are ready to strike again.  For Netanyahu they are "despicable terrorists".  Hamas justifies the gesture as a "response" to "crimes" linked to "occupation".

 Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Israeli security forces are carrying out amanhunt to identify and arrest the members of the "terrorist" cell that killed - in the context of a failed kidnapping attempt - a young soldier.  The victim is 19-year-old Dvir Sorek, a resident of Ofra (in the Occupied West Bank) and a student at the Jewish religious school Ohr Torah Mahanayim, who was stabbed to death on the night between August 7 and 8.

The Israeli authorities report that the members of the group are ready to strike again and for this it is essential to stop them in a short time.  The fear, the experts warn, is that other terrorist cells or lone wolves will imitate the murder and hit Israeli targets in other parts of the country, including Judea and Samaria.

Two more battalions have been allocated in the area, with an additional number of soldiers stationed in sensitive areas to prevent further attacks.  Sorek, who was about to celebrate his 19th birthday, was the son of journalist Yoav Sorek, director of Hashiloach.  His grandfather is Rabbi Binyamin Herling, who also died during a terrorist attack on Mount Ebal, not far from Nablus, in the 2000s.

Meanwhile, yesterday evening, thousands of people paid tribute to the body of young Sorek in the Ofra community cemetery, north of Jerusalem.  To watch over his body, in addition to his parents, there were also the six brothers from the 24-year-old Shahar, to the youngest Uri, aged nine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and its perpetrators, calling them "despicable terrorists".  At present there have been no official claims of the attack.  However, in these hours a spokesman for Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, has justified the attack by defining "the operation" a "response" to "occupation crimes".  Jawad Thawabteh, Fatah activist from the Bethlehem area, reports that Israeli soldiers "surrounded the village" near which the murder took place and "confiscated the security cameras of houses and shops" in search of clues.