Ron Kukia
Ron KukiaFamily

The Shin Bet and the Israel Police are engaged in an exhaustive manhunt after the terrorist responsible for Thursday evening's grisly terror attack in Arad that took the life of Ron Yitzhak Kukia, a 19-year-old soldier from Tel Aviv. While details are under a gag order, a significant development jis said to have occurred Saturday night.

Hundreds of police officers and IDF soldiers are searching for the terrorist, who escaped after murdering Kukia and stealing his weapon. Police concluded after extensive searches that the terrorist is not in Arad.

The soldier's family agreed to donate his corneas. "Our whole family has an Adi donation card (the organization that encourages organ donation, ed.), and saving lives is a supreme value," his father Boaz said. He will be buried Sunday afternoon at a cemetery in Kiryat Shaul.

Kukia's sister posted a heartfelt eulogy on Facebook that was shared by thousands of people. "Ron, my love, my prince, how can I strengthen my mother and father?" she wrote. "Every time I close my eyes, I imagine you in your last moments, alone, so helpless, fighting in your last breaths to cry for help, bleeding to death, God, where are you, save us from this horror! Wake us up from this nightmare, please!"

Initial investigations showed that Kukia was near a local mall when an Arab appeared in front of him and began stabbing his upper body. At some point, the terrorist escaped, and the soldier ran into the street to find help. A driver who happened to be passing accidentally hit him and injured him.

Kukia's funeral is to take place today at the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv.