Police arrest 5 far-right activists suspected of avenging 14-year-old settler’s death

Police have arrested five far-right activists in Israeli settlements in the West Bank on suspicion of “nationalist crimes.”

The arrests are connected to reprisals by extremist settlers for the suspected murder of Benjamin Achimeir, whose body was found on April 13 after his disappearance from the fields around the outpost of Malachei Shalom.

Malachei Shalom, located near the village of Dumah, which is situated about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Ariel, is temporarily overseen as a closed military area following Achimeir’s apparent murder, which prompted some settlers in the area to riot and burn at least one car owned by Palestinians.

The names of the suspects arrested today are not mentioned in a statement from Honenu, the far-right group providing them legal representation.