Palestinian man charged with stabbing Israeli man to death
Younis Hilan, arrested hours after October attack, accused of murdering Shalom Sofer in West Bank village of al-Funduq
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Military prosecutors on Monday night filed an indictment against Younis Hilan, a Palestinian man who allegedly stabbed and killed an Israeli man in a West Bank village in October.
The victim, 63-year-old Shalom Sofer, was stabbed on October 25 as he exited a store in al-Funduq, a Palestinian village near Kedumim. He was hospitalized in serious condition and later released home, where he died around two weeks later.
Hilan was arrested several hours after the stabbing following a manhunt in the area of the attack.
The Israel Defense Forces said Hilan was charged with intentionally causing the death of Sofer — the military court’s equivalent of murder — and other security offenses.
He was to remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings, the IDF said.
Sofer’s family was updated on the developments, it added.
Tensions have soared in the West Bank recently as the IDF has pressed on with an anti-terror offensive to deal with a series of Palestinian attacks that have left 31 people dead since the start of the year.
The operation has netted more than 2,500 arrests in near-nightly raids, but has also left more than 165 Palestinians dead, many of them — but not all — while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces.
The Times of Israel Community.