The Shin Bet in cooperation with the Israel Police (Samaria and Judea District), including the special anti-terror unit, and the IDF, in intelligence and operational activity, on December 24, 2020 detained for interrogation a suspect in the brutal, murderous terrorist attack on the late Esther Horgan perpetrated on December 20.
The suspect is Muhammad Cabha, 40, from the village of Tura al-Gharbiya, near Jenin, who has previously served sentences for terrorist activity.
Four additional suspects were arrested with him for assisting him in hiding from the security forces following the attack.
During his Shin Bet and Israel Police interrogation, it was learned that Cabha murdered Esther Horgan for nationalist motives; he also divulged additional details about the murder:
Approximately six weeks before the murder, the suspect decided to carry out a terrorist attack to avenge the death of a security prisoner he knew, Kamal Abu Awar, who died in of cancer prison while serving four life terms plus 50 years.
Cabha went to the area of the murder via a breach in the security fence in order to familiarize himself with it. After discerning scant traffic in the area and the passage of Israeli civilians, he decided that the place was suitable for carrying out the terrorist attack.
It was also learned that on December 20, 2020, in the afternoon, when the suspect was in the forest adjacent to Tal Menashe in order to engage in smuggling cigarettes through the fence, he identified a Jewish woman walking alone, and attacked and murdered her.
In the days following the attack, the suspect was aided by his relatives, as well as acquaintances in the village of Dayr al-Ghusun, in hiding from the security forces.
The investigation of the suspect is ongoing; upon its conclusion it is anticipated that he will be tried in the Samaria Military Court.
