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Solved case · 2010
Also known as Neta Sorek and Kristine Luken's murder · Neta Sorek and Kristine Luken's killing
The short answer
Neta Sorek and Kristine Luken were killed in separate 2010 knife attacks in the hills west of Jerusalem, and members of a Palestinian cell were convicted of both killings.
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Suggest coverage for Murders of Neta Sorek and Kristine LukenThe case file
Neta Sorek and Kristine Luken were two women killed in separate knife attacks in the wooded hills west of Jerusalem in 2010, in incidents later linked to the same Palestinian cell. Both cases were solved after a survivor's account and forensic evidence led investigators to the attackers, who were convicted in Israeli courts. [Wikipedia]
Neta Sorek grew up on Kibbutz Afikim, lived in Sweden and the United States, and returned to Israel, where she taught English in Zikhron Ya'akov for 13 years and took part in Arab-Jewish coexistence projects through the group Women for Peace. On 24 February 2010, members of a Palestinian cell entered Israel through gaps in the security barrier, stole a car in Beit Shemesh, and waited near the Beit Jimal Monastery, where Sorek was staying at a nearby guest house. She went for a walk in the monastery gardens and was fatally stabbed. When she did not return, her family searched the area, and her cousin and two friends found her body. An autopsy showed her death was the result of foul play. [Wikipedia]
Kristine Luken, an American citizen from Texas who had worked for the U.S. Department of Education before joining the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People, was hiking in the Mata forest near Beit Shemesh on 18 December 2010 with her friend Kay Wilson, a British-born Israeli tour guide. Two men attacked the pair with a serrated knife, robbed them, bound them, and stabbed them. Wilson was stabbed 13 times and suffered extensive injuries but freed herself and walked more than 1,200 meters, bound and barefoot, to a parking lot where a family alerted the authorities. Luken died in the attack; after an overnight search, police found her body bound in bushes. [Wikipedia]
DNA recovered from a penknife Wilson used to wound one attacker led police to the cell about a month later. Ayad Fatfata and Kifah Ghanimat were linked to the scene and confessed; investigators identified a four-member cell from the Hebron region that included Ibrahim Ghanimat. Cell members also confessed to Sorek's killing earlier that year. [Wikipedia]
The Jerusalem District Court convicted Kifah Ghanimat of Luken's murder and other offenses, including an aggravated rape from July 2009, and sentenced him to two life terms and 60 years. Ayad Fatfata was convicted of offenses including Luken's murder and the attempted murder of Wilson. Ibrahim Ghanimat was convicted of Sorek's murder and sentenced to life plus 16 years. In April 2017, U.S. prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Fatfata and Ghanimat over the murder of a U.S. national. [Wikipedia; US Department of Justice; BBC News]
5 dated entries · 2009–2017
An aggravated rape near the Beit Jimal Monastery, later attributed to Kifah Ghanimat, is committed.
Neta Sorek is fatally stabbed near the Beit Jimal Monastery in the Judean Hills.
Kristine Luken is killed and Kay Wilson is gravely wounded in a knife attack in the Mata forest near Beit Shemesh.
Israeli police arrest members of the Palestinian cell about a month after the December attack.
U.S. prosecutors file a criminal complaint against Fatfata and Ghanimat over the murder of a U.S. national abroad.
6 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
British-born Israeli tour guide who survived the 18 December 2010 attack; her account and DNA evidence led to the arrests.[3]
American citizen and Church's Ministry Among Jewish People staffer, killed on 18 December 2010 in the Mata forest.[3]
English teacher from Zikhron Ya'akov, killed on 24 February 2010 near the Beit Jimal Monastery.[3]
Convicted of offenses including the murder of Kristine Luken and the attempted murder of Kay Wilson.[3]
Convicted of the murder of Neta Sorek and further charges including car theft and unlawful entry; sentenced to life plus 16 years.[3]
Convicted by the Jerusalem District Court of the murder of Kristine Luken and other offenses, including an aggravated rape; sentenced to two life terms and 60 years.[3]
From the record
3 cited
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Official / agencyUS Department of JusticeAccessed Jul 5, 2026
PressBBC NewsAccessed Jul 5, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 5, 2026
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