From the Liveblog of
Monday, September 16, 2024
Three Israelis charged with terrorism offenses for attacks on West Bank Palestinians
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Three Israelis — one adult and two minors — are indicted for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism over an incident in which they violently attacked Palestinians in their cars in the northern West Bank in August, following a joint investigation by the Shin Bet security service and Israel Police.
Acts of terrorism of this kind are punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the 2016 Law for the Fight Against Terrorism.
The attacks took place in the early hours of August 9, between midnight and four o’clock in the morning in the area close to the Palestinian villages of Burin and Awarta in the northern West Bank.
According to the indictment, the three suspects set out from the settlement of Itamar to attack Palestinians after an associate of theirs told them he had been attacked by Palestinians on a nearby road.
The three suspects — an 18-year old from Bat Yam, and two 17-year-olds from the settlement of Elon Moreh and the Jewish neighborhood of Hebron — then set out in their own car to find Palestinians to attack.
They blockaded one of the entrances to Burin and, when a Palestinian-owned car stopped, exited their vehicle and attacked the Palestinian car, with the driver and another passenger sitting inside, smashing the windows and windscreens with metal baseball bats and throwing rocks at the car as the driver fled the scene.
They then drove towards Awarta and forced another Palestinian car to stop, and once again smashed the windows and windscreens of that vehicle, and struck the driver with a baseball bat.
All three suspects are charged with conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, as well as aggravated assault, intentionally damaging a vehicle, and stone throwing, all of which were done with “nationalistic or ideological motives with intent to arouse fear and panic among the public,” among other offenses.
“The security forces will continue to thwart and prevent terrorism of all kinds, in all sectors. More arrests are expected in the coming days,” say the Shin Bet and police in a joint statement.
There has been a significant increase in settler attacks against Palestinian civilians since October 7. In August, two extremist residents of the illegal outpost of Givat Ronen, just north of Awarta, were indicted on terrorism charges for a violent attack against Arab Israelis.
Last Wednesday, olive groves belonging to Palestinians in the town of Burin, a few kilometers northwest of Awarta and close to the radical settlement of Yitzhar, were set on fire.
