Police have concluded that Saar Ofir, who was investigated on suspicion of murdering a terrorist in the days following the October 7 massacre, is not involved in the incident and no charges are expected to be filed against him.
Today (Sunday) Saar shared his story and how the suspicions against him started in an interview with Kan.
Saar said he was not at the event and claimed "They're out for revenge because I reported that the defendant stole a weapon from YAMAM."
Saar noted that the story began when an investigation into the subject of weaponry was opened. "We evacuated their operators under fire, and based on the footage from my vest camera, nothing illegal or incorrect was found in my possession, nor was any evidence found regarding the murder. In some cases, we took weapons from soldiers who were killed, nothing from any unit was found in my possession, any such claim is lies and falsehoods.''
Regarding that Shabbat, Saar said, "At 6:30 I heard the phone. I observe Shabbat and spoke to a friend and we decided to head south. Four YAMAM officers were killed near us and we evacuated them so they wouldn't be taken to Gaza. The incident was at Sha'ar HaNegev, and we engaged in very intense fighting." Saar, who along with his friend are both discharged soldiers, joined another soldier who was on duty.
"We continued on route 232 towards Kfar Aza. At 14:00 we reached the kibbutz.. It was total chaos, intense and aggressive fighting. The enemy knew what they were doing. Excellent soldiers fell beside us," Saar said, adding that "We were three people fighting in quite a few areas. We captured terrorists alive and handed them over to ISA investigators.''
Regarding the incident for which he is suspected, Saar said, "I wasn't in such a situation, someone threw my name in by chance. The fact is that I wasn't at such an incident."
According to him, his vest camera recorded for most of the day."There are those who can support my story, I wasn't at the location where they claimed the event happened." Saar claimed that "The guy who is accused met me on another day, he is not one of the three I fought alongside, and he doesn't deny that I wasn't at the event."
Saar didn't know the accused before the massacre. "We only got to know each other on October 8. It's an attempt at revenge because I reported he stole a weapon from YAMAM. The police seized a rifle and weaponry from him."
However, Ofir is still suspected of stealing weaponry. According to the police, a pistol and an M-16 rifle were found during a search at his home. Ofir denied the theft of the weaponry, and his lawyer, Attorney Haim Shreiband, denied that a rifle and pistol were found at his home, claiming that the items seized were legally held and had already been returned to him by the court in the past.
The suspects are believed to have killed a terrorist who did not belong to the Nukhba forces after he infiltrated Israeli territory on October 7, while he was already detained and posed no threat. Recently, evidence against two of the suspects has been accumulating, through an investigation by Tel Aviv police. Meanwhile, the evidence against the third suspect – Saar Ofir – is weakening.