Muhammad Maruh Kabha, a 40-year-old resident of the village of Tora al-Arabiya near Jenin, is the terrorist who murdered Esther Horgan last month, the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) revealed Monday
Kabha, who has previously served a number of prison sentences for terrorist activity, was captured by Israel’s combined security forces on December 24, four days after the attack.
Another four other suspects were arrested for helping him hide from the security forces after the attack.
Kabha’s interrogation revealed that about a month and a half before the murder, he decided to carry out an attack, among other things after he was affected by the death of a security prisoner he knew, Kamal Abu Wa’ar, who died in prison of an illness.
Kabha arrived at the scene of the attack through a breach in the security fence to learn the area. After noticing that the traffic was light and that there were Israeli citizens passing through the area, he decided that this was the right place to carry out the attack.
On the day of the attack, Kabha arrived at the forest near the Israeli community of Tal Menashe in Samaria to conduct a cigarette smuggling operation through the fence.
A few hours later, he identified a Jewish woman walking alone, Horgan, and murdered her.
During the days following the attack, Kabha was assisted by his relatives and acquaintances in the village of Deir al-Ghusson in hiding from the security forces.
Kabha’s investigation is still ongoing, and at the end he is expected to stand trial in the military court in Samaria.
“The security forces will continue to act resolutely to thwart terrorist activity and enforce justice with all those involved,” the Shin Bet stated.
Horgan, 52 and a resident of Tal Menashe in northern Samaria, was an artist and a marriage counselor.
She was the mother of two daughters and four sons. The youngest of them is 13 years old and celebrated his bar mitzvah only three months ago.
Horgan was the third Israeli to be murdered in 2020.
Rabbi Shai Ohayon, a father of four, was stabbed to death by a terrorist in August.
IDF soldier Amit Ben Yigal was killed in action in May.