The arrest of a Palestinian suspect, who admitted carrying out the murder of a child a month ago, has confirmed the security forces’ theory of a lone attacker.

The General Security Service (GSS) arrested Mussa Tit, a 26-year-old shepherd from the village of Hirbet Safa, south of Jerusalem, two weeks ago.

Under questioning, Tit admitted to murdering Shlomo Nativ and injuring another child when he attacked a group of boys on the settlement of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzyon. He had allegedly planned the attack in advance, buying the weapons, a knife and an axe and hiding them near Bat Ayin. After fleeing the murder scene, he hid them again in the same spot and was arrested by a joint operation of the security services 12 days later.

In his questioning, Tit said that he did not belong to any terror organisation and that he simply wanted to “die as a shahid… for religious reasons”. He had prepared a will before the attack.