Israel jails settler who threw stun grenades at Palestinian homes

An Israeli court yesterday handed a 20-month prison sentence to an Israeli settler who throw stun grenades at Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank at the beginning of the year.

Israeli judge Hagai Tarsi also ordered the man, whose name has not been made public, to pay 60,000 shekels ($18,950) to the Palestinian families he attacked in the village of Sarta, resulting in grenade fragments which injured a 61-year-old Palestinian’s forehead.

Moreover, two women, one of them pregnant, were evacuated for medical attention, reported Haaretz.

Tarsi described the attack, which was caught on security cameras, as being carried out due to “racist and nationalist outlook and motives.”

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The Lod District Court rejected a plea bargain under which the convict would have received a 12-month sentence.

Lior Amihai, executive director of the Yesh Din legal aid group assisting the Palestinian victims, noted that by not accepting the plea bargain, the judge had shown that “violence by settlers against Palestinians, wherever they are, must pay a heavy price.”

According to the verdict the teen, along with four other suspects obtained two stun grenades and threw them into two homes as the families slept at 2 am in January.

However, the sentence issued is far more lenient when compared to those handed down to Palestinian minors convicted of throwing stones – even if no harm is caused – who face possible penalties of up to 20 years in prison.