State prosecutor: ‘Reasonable suspicion established’ before 3 arrested for killing Palestinian on Oct. 7

State Prosecutor Amit Aisman tells a Knesset panel that there was “reasonable suspicion” established before three Israeli civilians were detained on suspicion of killing a Palestinian man on October 7 and stealing weaponry from Israeli troops.

“I approved the opening of the investigation after consultations, and only after we were convinced that the evidence required the opening of an investigation, and we did so with a heavy heart,” Aisman tells the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

“This was evidence that established reasonable suspicion,” he says.

“Even in a combat situation, when a person does not pose a danger and is completely neutralized, his death can amount to a crime,” Aisman says, according to the Ynet news site.

The three civilians are not members of any security forces. According to reports, on October 7 — as thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel in a shock assault — they made their way to the Gaza border communities to join the fighting there.

According to Walla, the chief suspect is alleged to have seized a Palestinian whom he identified as an operative in Hamas’s elite Nukhba force, interrogated him, and executed him at the end of the interrogation.

According to reports, the suspect has said he never seized or interrogated a Palestinian, and maintains that the alleged terrorist was alive when he transferred him to security forces.

Ynet reported that two of the three suspects arrived at the front lines unarmed and stole weapons from the bodies of slain IDF soldiers.