2 Israeli teens indicted in savage beating of Palestinian man

Settler youths allegedly hit shepherd with metal rods fitted with knives in 2014 attack, rendering him unconscious

By ToI Staff 6 January 2016, 3:53 pm

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Illustrative photo: Masked Jewish settlers, background, and Palestinians, foreground, hurl stones during clashes in the West Bank, Friday, May 3, 2013. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)

The Jerusalem district prosecution on Wednesday indicted two Israeli teens who allegedly beat a Palestinian goatherd so roughly that he lost consciousness.

Served at the Juvenile District Court in the capital, the indictment alleges that on May 13, 2014, the two minors, now aged 15 and 18, were staying near the northern West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashahar when they spotted the shepherd, who is in his fifties.

The defendants and five others then forced him to leave the area, the indictment said.

Covering their faces with shirts and wearing gloves, the teens allegedly took crowbars with knives attached to them and beat him until he fell to the ground, unconscious.

They were charged with aggravated assault and illegal possession of a knife. The five other alleged attackers were never caught.

One of the defendants was recently interrogated but then released on allegations that he was involved in the Duma firebombing attack, which killed three members of a Palestinian family. Two Jewish extremists were indicted in that attack last week.