Investigators of the Tel Aviv district police last Tuesday arrested two Israelis on suspicion of murdering a Nukhba terrorist on October 7 in the Gaza Envelope. The two were released by the Tel Aviv District Court, but for now, the investigation into their case continues (Soldier Arrested for Allegedly Killing a Nukhba Terrorist).
The two suspects are civilians, not enlisted men or reservists. According to the police, in the days after October 7, they were in the Negev and took a terrorist captive. They are suspected of tying him up and then killing him. The court imposed a gag order on their identity until further notice.
Judge Oded Maor shared his confusion with the police representative about the gag order. “The whole world knows,” the judge said. “How did people know to come to this court? I wonder what is the point of continuing the order.”
The police argued that the case had not yet been published on the main social networks, and not on the major media. Also, if the case is revealed – this could lead to the terrorists harming the hostages as revenge.
The two, a resident of Elkana, 22, and a United Hatzalah volunteer, 30, living in central Israel, took the initiative – each separately – and drove down to the Gaza Strip on October 7. The younger suspect took off with another friend and a police officer, who was the only one of the three armed with a gun. They later took weapons from the corpses of IDF fighters who had fallen in battle and joined the fighting.
There, the younger suspect also ran into Roi Yifrach, 35, from Tel Aviv, who was later accused of impersonating a Shin Bet agent, stealing weapons and ammunition, going down to Gaza, and taking a selfie with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It appears that the prosecution is basing its accusations on Yifrach’s testimony. At some point, apparently, the group captured a terrorist who entered Israel from the Gaza Strip. In the video of the incident, the older suspect is seen kicking the terrorist’s leg, and Roi Yifrach kicking his head. The younger suspect is not seen in this video. According to the suspects, this incident took place during the fighting, and the terrorist was handed over alive to the security forces, under whose care his death was later determined.
MK Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) on Thursday night tweeted: “I am happy about the release to house arrest of the fighter who jumped on October 7 and saved human lives. He saved the bodies of Police Special Force fighters from being kidnapped, and stood bravely against the terrorists, and even stood bravely against the false testimony of Roi Yifrach.
The Mothers of Warrior forum responded to the arrests, saying: “Someone here got confused. To arrest people who eliminated terrorists who murdered and burned our brothers and sisters? We thought that after October 7 the conceptzia would no longer be here, we are sending our children to fight to eliminate as many terrorists as possible, not to be arrested because they eliminated terrorists. The state, the prosecution, the army, they all need to wake up.”
