Police detain 8 Palestinians for not intervening in Old City stabbing
Two released after questioning, six to appear in court on suspicion they did nothing to stop fatal knifing of Adiel Kolman in Jerusalem
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Police on Tuesday arrested eight Palestinian residents of Jerusalem’s Old City on suspicion that they witnessed Sunday’s fatal stabbing of an Israeli by a Palestinian terrorist and did nothing to intervene.
“As part of the ongoing investigation into the stabbing attack at the beginning of the week, it was clear at the scene that the attacker had clear intentions to carry out the terror attack,” police said in a statement.
Adiel Kolman, 32, a father of four, died of his wounds several hours after he was knifed in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter by 28-year-old Abd al-Rahman Bani Fadel from Aqraba, near the West Bank city of Nablus. Fadel was shot dead at the scene by police.
Police detained the eight bystanders, aged 15 to 67, on suspicion that they “saw what was going on and did not act to prevent or minimize the injury to the murdered civilian.” Failing to prevent a crime is itself a misdemeanor, according to Israeli law.
Two of the detainees were released after their interrogation and six others were to be brought to court for hearings on the extension of their remand.
Kolman was buried Monday in the central West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashachar, where he lived.
Once common in the Old City, stabbing attacks have waned in recent months. However, tensions have been on the rise around Jerusalem since US President Donald Trump recognized the city as Israel’s capital in December. This month, he also announced that the US Embassy would be moving from its current location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14.
