Police detained three new suspects linked with the killing of Yemanu Binyamin Zalka, the pizzeria manager in Petah Tikva, killed on the eve of Independence Day, media reported on Saturday.
Two of the suspects were minors, and one of them turned himself in to the police after a manhunt in the Sharon area.
There are now 16 suspects tied to the case. The police said they knew their identities and were sure of their participation in Zalka’s murder.
The police also said that the hunt for additional suspects was still underway. “The Israel Police shares the family’s grief and will continue to act resolutely to establish the evidentiary infrastructure and bring all those involved to justice.”
The latest suspects will be taken for questioning, and later, the police are expected to bring them for a hearing on a request to extend their remand in accordance with the needs of the investigation.
What happened in Zalka's murder?
Zalka was killed on the eve of Independence Day after asking a group of teenagers to stop causing a disturbance in the pizzeria where he was working.
According to witnesses, the group waited for him to leave work, attacked him, and one of the suspects eventually stabbed him. He was rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead after doctors fought to save him.
“A lot of people loved him,” Zalka’s older brother told the press outside the pizzeria where he used to work. “A very good boy who never bothered his parents, us, or me, his older brother. Really, a really good boy.”
He added that “my brother didn’t cause trouble either at home or outside. You have no idea how much my brother knew how to come help at home, for his mother, in the most everyday ways, getting the little ones out to kindergarten, out to school.”
His brother said that he went to work on Independence Day “and didn’t come home.”