Israeli forces arrested 20 Palestinians who are suspected of involvement in a lynch attempt on a group of young Israeli hikers.
By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News
Israeli security forces on Wednesday night raided the Palestinian village of Qusra, near Shechem (Nablus) and arrested 20 Palestinians who are suspected of having been involved in a lynch attempt on a group of young Israeli hikers last Thursday and in the violent riots that ensued after the incident.
The suspects, including two minors, were taken for questioning, while the police succeeded in recovering the personal property stolen from the hikers by the rioters, including their wallets and cellphones.
The Israeli forces also arrested several suspects in connection with incitement to terrorism.
Last Thursday, two Israeli hikers were wounded and a Palestinian was shot and killed when a group of Israelis came under attack by a violent Palestinian mob near Qusra, in Samaria.
An Israeli group of some 20 eighth graders was on a hike celebrating a boy’s Bar Mitzvah when they came under a barrage of rocks.
The group attempted to retreat to safety while alerting the IDF about their perilous situation. They felt their lives were in danger, and an armed guard accompanying the group fired in the air and then at the mob, hitting and killing one of them.
On Monday after that, Palestinians again rioted at the site, with about 50 Palestinians throwing rocks at the security forces and burning tires. In a video taken at the scene, the Arabs are seen rolling a huge boulder down a hill directly at the Israeli forces.
The police stated Thursday that it used a broad array of technological and intelligence-gathering methods to identify and locate the perpetrators.
The group of Israeli hikers that was attacked plans to complete its trip at the same site on Friday.