Settler arrested in death of Palestinian youth
Yitzhar resident suspected of involvement in shooting of 15-year-old boy who hurled stones at his vehicle. Suspect says allegations a fabrication
Two months after a Palestinian youth was shot dead near Ramallah, police on Sunday arrested a settler from Yitzhar suspected of involvement in the incident.
The man was released without any limitations after being questioned for several hours. The police said they would look into additional leads as well.
The suspect, 37, said in his interrogation that his vehicle was pelted with stones, but denied opening fire at the Palestinian youth.
Residents of Yitzhar say the suspect is a normative man, and chances that he was involved in a shooting incident are non-existent. According to the residents, the weapon the suspect uses while guarding the entrance to the community is a weapon that is passed between guards on duty at the end of each shift.
In addition, the settlement's security officer said the suspect's personal weapon had been kept in Yitzhar's weapons storage for almost a year now, meaning there is no way he could have had a weapon on him at the time of the incident.
Sources close to the suspect say he has been wronged, and noted that he was the one to call the police and complain that his car had been stoned. He also filed a complaint with the police and the property tax. "Therefore, the fact that he was arrested over two months after the incident is very peculiar," one source said.
The suspect himself has denied any connection to the incident, and said the allegations against him are a fabrication.
The incident occurred in May, when a 15-year-old boy from the area of Sinjil village, north of Ramallah, was shot dead.
The Palestinians said the body of the boy – Ayssar Yasser al-Zaben from the village of Mazra'a al-Sharqiya – was found by relatives on a field belonging to his family hours after he was shot.
After the incident, the Palestinians said the body was discovered not far from the site of a confrontation between a group of young Palestinians and a settler on Highway 60. They said the settler stepped out of his vehicle and fired a number of shots.
Hours after the deadly incident, two Israelis were lightly injured in the area after Palestinians opened fire at their vehicle.
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