Several Israelis arrested for alleged terror attack against Palestinians

Several Israelis suspected of terrorism against Palestinians were arrested yesterday by security forces. The suspects were taken in for interrogation, but their identities and other details of the investigation were placed under a gag order, a police statement said.

Details of the arrests reported by Israeli sources mentioned that the suspects included at least three aged 18 and 19. The terrorist acts carried out by the Israelis are said to have targeted Palestinians and security forces.

The arrests were carried out as part of a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the police. Two of the suspects were taken for questioning at the Israeli police’s district in the occupied West Bank and the other is being interrogated by the security agency, reported the Haaretz.

The alleged terrorists were detained for their involvement in injuring a five-year-old Palestinian child last month as well as the illegal possession of weapons, and of being members of a terror organisation, which is a serious charge that’s seldom brought against Israelis.

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The five-year-old Palestinian child suffered wounds to his face after Israeli settlers threw rocks at the car he was travelling in at a West Bank road east of occupied Ramallah. The attack followed an escalation of settler violence sparked by the death of Ahuvia Sandak. The 16-year-old died after his car overturned during a police car chase. The officers were after Sandak and his friends because they were suspected of throwing stones at Palestinian vehicles.

Settlers directed their anger at Palestinians and Israeli law enforcement officers following the death of Sandak. In the same month, settlers also attacked a ten-year-old Palestinian girl from the West Bank village of Madama, south of Nablus. The girl was wounded in her head and face. She was taken to a hospital in Nablus for treatment and later released.

Last month settlers also called for the murder of Palestinian bus drivers in the occupied West Bank. Racist graffiti reading “Kill Arab drivers” was sprayed in Modi’in Illit, the largest illegal settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.

READ: Israel settler violence against Palestinians on the rise since 2017