Military court indicts Palestinian over clash with hiking settlers
Muhammad Wadi charged with trying to kill adult chaperone who was hiding in cave with boys during West Bank bar mitzvah hike
A military court on Monday indicted one of the Palestinians allegedly involved in a clash between Palestinians and settlers in the northern West Bank at the end of November.
Muhammad Wadi was indicted on a charge that is equivalent to attempted murder, for trying to cause the death of one of the adult chaperones who had sought refuge in a cave with a group of Jewish boys, the Israel Defense Forces said.
On the day in question, on November 30, a group of several dozen youths, chaperoned by a pair of fathers, had embarked on a tour of the northern West Bank to celebrate the bar mitzvah of Elitzur Libman.
As they hiked past the village of Qusra, southeast of Nablus, dozens of Palestinian residents began throwing rocks at them, according to the group.
One of the armed chaperones opened fire, killing 48-year-old Mahmoud Za’al Odeh.
As more Qusra residents arrived, many of the hikers hid in a nearby cave.
Wadi — one of 20 Palestinians arrested in connection with the incident — was accused of entering the cave where one of the adult chaperones was sitting with the boys, and throwing large stones at them from a short distance, some of them aimed successfully at the chaperone’s head.
The military prosecutor asked the Samaria military court to approve Wadi being detained until the end of court proceedings
The two chaperones were questioned on manslaughter suspicions days after the incident, but were quickly released.
In its initial investigation into the clashes, the army determined that Palestinians threw rocks at the hiking children before the armed settler opened fire.
But local human rights activists said the rock-throwing Palestinian mob only arrived after the fatal shooting of the Palestinian man, who, they said, had been working in his field.
The army said the hikers did not coordinate their trip ahead of time or get permission from the military to enter the area, as required by protocol.
The incident significantly raised tensions between settlers and local Palestinians in the area.
