Israel Arrests Several Jewish Minors Over Murder of Palestinian Woman
Several Jewish minors arrested in recent days are suspected of involvement in the October murder of a Palestinian woman in the West Bank, Shin Bet security service said on Sunday.
Aisha Mohammed Rabi, 47, and her husband Yacoub were driving near a West Bank checkpoint south of Nablus when a group of settlers threw stones at their car.
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Rabi was reportedly struck in the head with a stone and died shortly after. Her husband was lightly wounded.
According to the Shin Bet statement, the teens are members of the "Pri Ha’aretz" yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Rehelim, which is located near the scene of the killing.
The morning after the attack, on Saturday, October 13, several far-right activists from the settlement of Yitzhar drove to Rehelim and instructed students at the yeshiva on how to deal with an upcoming Shin Bet investigation, said the Shin Bet statement.
It was unclear whether the two arrested on Saturday are suspected of the same offenses as the other three who were arrested earlier last week.
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Despite being initially interrogated without an attorney present, the teens’ lawyers said they did not admit to being involved in the murder and denied all the allegations.
One of the teens’ lawyers, Adi Keidar of the Honenu legal aid group, said that the Shin Bet "puts minors in its cellars and cuts them off from the world." If it fails to extract a confession, he said, the Shin Bet arrests other teens.
"Tonight we met the minors for the first time after a week during which they were prevented from meeting a lawyer’" Keidar added. "We heard things no citizen in Israel would [agree with about] how young men are interrogated."
A gag-order has been placed on the publication of the names of the teens, as well as other details in the investigation.