Israeli detains 18 Palestinians who are part of WhatsApp group

Mobile phone, on 6 September 2016 [Flickr]

Israeli forces have detained 18 Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem and West Bank for being in a WhatsApp group with a Palestinian who was killed by Israeli forces on Monday after allegedly carrying out a stabbing attack, Maan News reports.

According to Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri all members were part of a group called “Road to heaven” and shared religious messages.

Read: Israel issues 35 administrative detentions in two weeks

The implication of al-Samri’s statement was that Ibrahim Mahmoud Matar, the slain 25 year old blacksmith from Jerusalem, had been influenced by the chat group to carry out an alleged attack.

However, according to Matar’s family has insisted he was “executed in cold blood”.

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