Colonel Sariya Ofer laid to rest
Funeral for victim of Jordan Valley murder held in Sharon. Victim's injured widow arrives by ambulance, carried to burial plot on stretcher
Hundreds attended the funeral of Colonel (res.) Sariya Ofer, who was murdered
in the Jordan Valley on Friday.
Ofer's daughter eulogized her father, saying "I was supposed to meet him on Wednesday and thought there was a lot of time… We were proud of you. We love you and miss you."
The funeral was held in the Kfar Vitkin cemetery in the Sharon, and the deceased's widow, Monique Omer, who sustained injuries at the night of the murder, arrived by ambulance, and was carried on a stretcher to the burial plot.
Related stories:
- Officials: Jordan Valley murder not a terror attack
- IDF reserves colonel murdered in Jordan Valley
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Also in attendance were Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel, IDF and police officers, soldiers and many friends.
Photo: Motti Kimchi
Widow carried on stretcher (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Earlier Sunday it was cleared for publication that the Shin Bet, IDF and police have arrested three people suspected to have been involved in the killing. Two of them, Uda Farid Taleb Kharoub, 18, and Bashir Ahmed Uda Kharoub, 21, Palestinians from Hebron, were taken to questioning and have confessed to the murder.
Two suspects who confessed
According to the Shin Bet, the motive is yet to be established, but it is likely that it was criminally motivated.
Ofer was murdered on Friday at 1 am. His wife Monique, who managed to escape, said her husband was bludgeoned to death by two Palestinians wielding iron bars and axes when he stepped outside their home, to investigate suspicious noises.
Monique managed to crawl through the garden and had cut herself on a barbed wire fence, before reaching a road where she stopped cars and called for help.
Ofer had held a number of key positions in the army, including commander of Sayeret Shaked and commander of the IDF forces in Gaza.
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