Suspects at Haifa Court
Photo: Ido Boker
Seven Israeli Arab teens charged with launching IEDs at Israeli police
Cleared for publication: Haifa District Court indicted the teens for making, throwing IEDs at police during riots that broke out last month after the death of Kheir Hamdan in Kafr Kanna.
The Haifa District Court on Sunday indicted seven Israeli Arab teenagers for throwing IEDs at a police car near the town of Fureidis last month.
The IEDs were thrown at police by the seven Arab teens during riots that broke after 22-year-old Kheir Hamdan was shot and killed by Israeli police in Kafr Kanna in the Galilee.
On Sunday afternoon, it was released for publication that the seven Arab teens, who had thrown the IED during riots in the Arab sector last month, were arrested.
According to the indictment, the charges filed against the suspects were not of a nationalistic motive.
Suspects in Haifa District Court (Photo: Ido Boker)
The IEDs were thrown at police by the seven Arab teens during riots that broke after 22-year-old Kheir Hamdan was shot and killed by Israeli police in Kafr Kanna in the Galilee.
Israeli police said Hamdan had threatened the life of police officers as he tried to stab them with a knife while they were inside their cruiser. However, video footage of the incident led some people to interpret the events differently, and claimed Hamdan had tried to run away from the vehicle when he was shot.
Improvised explosive device (Photo: Israel Police)
The indictment filed against the teens revealed that the main suspect had made seven bombs that were inteded to explode during protests against Hamdan's death.
On November 9th, the prime suspect handed over two IEDs two his fiends who threw the bombs at police who were monitoring the protests on Route 4, near Fureidis. The IED's fell close to the police officers but did not explode.
The prosecution also claimed that the prime suspect, who is 15-years-old, had previously traveled to the town of Al-Jiftlik in the West Bank where he learned how to make pipe bombs using matches and fireworks.
When he returned to Israeli territory, he purchased materials and made close to 20 explosive devices, some of which were made while two other suspects sat and watched. He exploded some of the IEDs in his hometown.
A day after the Arab teens launched the homemade explosives at Israeli police, the suspects launched additional IEDs near the Fureidis post office and close to a local school.
The indictment also revealed that some of the suspects had wanted to launch another IED at police but set off the explosive on the side of the road instead.
Israel police said that more than one teen was involved in making the explosives.
Chief Superintendent Jacob Gov of the Central Beach Unit said that the investigation involved about 20 officers, detectives and investigators from the Central Youth Unit.
The first suspects were arrested two weeks after the incident and police investigated a total of eight suspects. "They confirmed their participation in committing the offenses," said Chief Superintendent Gov, "and in one case led the researchers to a hidden explosive."
The prosecution requested to extend the remand of the seven suspects until the end fo the judicial process. They have been charged with serious weapons offenses and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Mohammad Darwish, the main suspect's lawyer said that the major disagreement was whether to call the IEDs weapons and said, "These are 14-15-year-olds that built these things as a game."
