Arafat Irfaiya, accused in the rape and murder of 19 yrs old Ori Ansbaher was charged Thursday at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court.
Arafat Irfaiya, a resident of Hebron, was charged with rape and murder in the context of a terrorist act, for brutally attacking Ori Ansbacher in a Jerusalem forest on the late morning of February 7.
The legal proceedings will resume at a later date.
According to the indictment, Irfaiya entered Israel from the West Bank illegally in early February armed with a knife.
"He came across Ansbaher and decided to kill her because she was Jewish," the charge sheet said. "He attacked Ori with violent cruelty, and though she tried to fight him off, he overpowered her. He stabbed her with a knife multiple times throughout her body, causing her death."
The Jerusalem District Prosecutor's office said no further details about the murder would be revealed.
During the hearing, state prosecutors presented the court with evidence against Irfaiya, including his DNA that was found on the murder weapon and at the crime scene. Prosecutors also told the court that during his interrogation, Irfaiya revealed details about the victim that implicated him in her murder.
According to a Channel 12 news report, the killer told interrogators that he entered Israel and looked for a Jewish victim because he wanted to be a martyr.
"I entered Israel with a knife because I wanted to become a martyr and murder a Jew," he told investigators according to a Channel 12 report. "I met the girl by chance."
On the day of the killing Ori, who was a volunteer at a youth center in the capital, went for a walk in a woodland at Ein Yael in southern Jerusalem.
Irfaiya told investigators he encountered Ansbaher sitting on a rock, writing in a notebook, and decided he would have sex with her "whether she agreed to it, or not."
A spokesman for the Shin Bet previously said Arafat Irfaiya had spent time in prison for security-related offenses and that he had crossed into Israel without a permit before carrying out the murder. Hebrew media reported that he is affiliated with Hamas, but the group has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
Her murder sparked outrage across Israel and prompted the government to approve implementing a law under which Israel will deduct from tax revenues it collects on behalf of Palestinians the amount the Palestinian Authority pays out to attackers and their families.
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Photos: The Palestinian killer and his victim; Site of the murder
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