7 arrested for rioting, throwing rocks during May conflict with Gaza
Residents of the south are held on suspicion of throwing stones at cars and police officers
Seven residents of the south of the country were arrested recently for alleged acts of violence in May during an armed conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip, it was announced Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Israel Police, the seven individuals were detained following a joint undercover investigation by police and the Shin Bet domestic security service.
The suspects are accused of rioting on several occasions near the Bedouin city of Rahat, north of Beersheba.
Police said the suspects threw rocks at passing cars and at police officers during protests amid the 11-day flareup of violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza earlier this year.
The seven individuals were slated to appear at the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for a hearing on extending their detention.
Police said they will continue to work to investigate the clashes and violence that took place across Israel in May and to locate suspects, “and additional arrests are expected.”
On Sunday, five Bedouin residents of the town of Kuseife in the south were indicted on terror charges for alleged acts of violence in May during the conflict.
From May 10-21 Israel fought against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip. In response to thousands of rockets fired by the Palestinian terror group at Israeli cities, the IDF carried out hundreds of bombing raids on Hamas targets in the coastal enclave.
The escalation in violence between Israel and Hamas sparked mass unrest in mixed Arab-Jewish locales in Israel.
