State attorney cites evidence in killing of Palestinian terrorist caught alive on Oct. 7
In rare clarification, authorities say police have video showing suspects dubbed ‘S and R’ perpetrating ‘severe acts of violence committed against terrorists outside of combat’
The State Attorney’s Office on Sunday issued a rare clarification of a police investigation into a highly unusual case involving the suspected killing of a Palestinian terrorist by a citizen who apparently caught the individual alive after he participated in the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7.
While suspects in such a case are normally not named, two of the three people involved, Sahar Ofir and Yisrael Biton, came forward to Hebrew media outlets in recent days denying that they killed a terrorist who was captured alive. The State Attorney’s Office dubbed Ofir and Biton “S and R” in their statement.
The office stated it released the statement in order to correct erroneous information reported about the case which, it said, led to “severe incitement” against staff from the State Attorney’s Office and the police.
According to the office, after Ofir and Biton were questioned about stolen firearms, a video emerged of the latter beating a Palestinian man in his vehicle. Forensic tests determined that the man was killed, although his body has not been found.
Additionally, “written statements were found from [Ofir] sent in real-time, in which he allegedly confessed to killing several terrorists he and others caught alive, as well as severe acts of violence committed against terrorists outside of combat.”
The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court approved search and arrest warrants against Biton and others because there was “a reasonable suspicion that the crime of murder had been committed.”
Biton was indicted for stealing weapons from a special forces police officer who was slain during the October 7 massacre and was ordered to be held in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.
The police investigation into the allegations of murder against him was ongoing, with the State Attorney’s Office is “guiding” the process, the statement added.
Additionally, Ofir was questioned under caution after an illegal handgun as well as parts of M-16 rifles were found in his home during a search, the statement read, adding he is no longer suspected of murder.
According to earlier media reports, the three suspects had made their way to the Gaza border communities to join the fighting there on October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Police said on Thursday that Ofir and Biton had been released under “restrictive conditions,” while the third suspect was being held until the end of legal proceedings for weapon offenses.
‘I feel betrayed by the state in every sense’
Ofir, 22, the first of the suspects to speak out in the case, told Channel 12 Saturday that he felt he was being turned into a criminal “by force.”
“I feel betrayed by the state in every sense,” he said.
A recently released combat soldier, Ofir said he voluntarily left his home on October 7 with a friend who was a policeman to aid security forces in the fight against terrorists who broke across the border from Gaza.
He said he took weapons off the corpses of terrorists he found and used them to take part in the battle on the day, and received ammunition from policemen.
He asserted “there was no situation” in which he killed a terrorist who had surrendered, and said at one stage, he even drove two gunmen who had laid down their arms to the police command center in Sderot.
On Sunday, Biton, a volunteer in the United Hatzalah rescue service, asserted in an interview with Channel 12 that he did not kill the terrorist he had held in his custody while fighting on October 7.
Amid the fighting, Biton said a policeman approached him with a terrorist who was captured and injured. The officer asked him to drive the terrorist to the Gvaram Junction where Shin Bet security service agents were stationed, Biton said.
“I don’t know what went on in his head, obviously wanting to kill as many Jews as possible, but he tried to kick me while driving,” Biton said. “In response, I stepped on his foot very hard. If I thought of killing him, I had a gun, I had a bullet loaded, I am completely legally licensed to shoot him,” he added, but stressed that he did not kill the terrorist, and dropped him off at Gvaram Junction to security forces.
‘Every Gazan who crossed the border on Oct. 7 had a death sentence’
The case has drawn the attention of lawmakers across the political spectrum, with National Unity chair Benny Gantz on Sunday declaring that “every Gazan who crossed the border [on October 7] has a death sentence. All of them are in clear and immediate danger.”
Although he expressed trust for law enforcement, he added that given the “chaos, shock and hours of guerrilla warfare” that took place on October 7, authorities must “give a broad backing and full support to those who fought – soldiers, policemen and civilians alike.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was less measured in his response, calling on State Prosecutor Amit Aisman to “remember that he is the attorney of the State of Israel, and not of its enemies.”
“The state attorney who started working to investigate me on suspicion of ‘incitement’ against the residents of Gaza, is also the one who ordered the crazy investigation against three heroic fighters who on October 7 went out to fight in the hell of the Gaza border area — and are now suspected by Aisman of ‘murdering’ a Nukhba terrorist,” the far-right minister said.
Last Wednesday, Aisman reportedly asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for permission to open a criminal investigation into Ben Gvir for allegedly inciting violence against residents of Gaza, in an apparent attempt to satisfy the International Court of Justice that Israel is holding Israeli officials to account for such remarks.
Protesters in recent days have rallied in favor of the suspects, whom they commended for their perceived bravery on October 7, according to Hebrew media reports.
