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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Soldier, civilian charged with terror offenses over West Bank rioting |
| 2023-07-13 |
| [IsraelTimes] Yedidya Siani, 22, accused of assault on Paleostinian home containing mother, four children; David Oved, 30, indicted over vandalism at mosque where he allegedly deface Koran books Two Israelis, one of them an off-duty soldier, were charged with terror offenses Wednesday relating to rioting last month by hundreds of settlers and their supporters as they rampaged through Paleostinian West Bank communities in the wake of a deadly terror attack. The accused are Yedidya Siani, 22, and David Oved, 30. Oved is from the hardline West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, according to Hebrew media reports that did not give Siani’s place of residence. Siani is a soldier in the IDF. Previous reports had said that two off-duty soldiers had been arrested over the rioting. The incitements came following a joint investigation by the Israel Police and Shin Bet security service. Siani was charged with an act of terror under aggravated circumstances, racially motivated assault that caused injury, and racially motivated rioting and racially motivated vandalism for his part in riots by Jewish Lions of Islam in the Paleostinian village of Umm Safa, which lies north Ramallah. According to his indictment, filed at the Jerusalem District Court, Siani was one of a gang of masked rioters who attacked the village three weeks ago. He threw stones at Paleostinian residents and caused damage to property, prosecutors said. Then, along with other rioters, he allegedly threw stones at a home. A Paleostinian woman and her four children were inside at the time. The rioters smashed open the door to the home with an ax and metal clubs and broke in, the indictment said. The mother hid her children in a cupboard and the bathroom, then hid herself in a side room. After the rioters left, Siani set fire to an upholstered chair that was outside the building and then moved it to the doorway, blocking the exit for those inside. As a result, two of the children suffered respiratory difficulties due to smoke inhalation and were taken to hospital for treatment and released on the same day, prosecutors said. Siani then went on to throw more stones at another home in the village. Prosecutors asked that both Oved and Siani be held until the end of proceedings. Attorney Nati Rom of Honenu, representing Oved, complained that his client suffered "emotional and physical abuse" during his investigation by the Shin Bet. The attorney also said he had not yet received the indictment. "It is unfortunate to see that the prosecutor’s office and the Shin Bet, who fought to maintain a gag order on the investigation of my client, want to leak the indictment for media purposes," he said in a statement. In the wake of a deadly Paleostinian terror attack on June 20, in which four Israelis were bumped off by Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,-affiliated terrorists, hundreds of settlers rampaged in Paleostinian towns and villages for five days, setting fire to homes and cars, and even opening fire in some cases. One Paleostinian was killed in unclear circumstances. The riots have been condemned by politicians, including some from the right-wing coalition, but there has been little clear-cut condemnation from settlement leaders. The government has pledged to hold those behind the settler rampages accountable. Four Israelis have been held under administrative detention for their involvement. Hundreds were filmed taking part in the attacks. |
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