[IsraelTimes] Police say 5 more detained after violence in Burqa, during which Qusai Jamal Matan was killed; one suspect formerly worked for politician from coalition’s far-right Otzma Yehudit.Two Israeli settlers were arrested and another five were detained over their suspected involvement in the killing of a young Paleostinian man in the West Bank, police said Saturday.
The prime suspect who allegedly opened fire was hospitalized after he was injured in festivities.
The second arrested individual formerly worked as an aide for a politician from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. Both are residents of the illegal West Bank outpost of Migron.
"As of now, two Israelis were arrested for questioning and five were detained," a police spokeswoman said in a statement Saturday morning.
On Friday night, 19-year-old Qusai Jamal Matan was fatally shot in the neck in the West Bank town of Burqa, close to Ramallah, according to Paleostinian health officials and Israeli defense sources. He was buried on Saturday.
According to the PA’s official Wafa news agency, the festivities broke out after settlers attacked the village, leading residents to confront them.
The Israel Defense Forces said that according to witnesses, festivities had erupted adjacent to Burqa after Israeli settlers from a nearby outpost herded sheep in the area. Paleostinians from the town then approached the settlers to distance them from their lands, when a verbal confrontation erupted.
At one point, both sides began hurling stones at each other, the IDF said, adding that Paleostinians also launched fireworks.
"During the confrontation, Israeli civilians shot toward the Paleostinians. As a result of the confrontation, a Paleostinian was killed, four others were maimed, and a Paleostinian vehicle was found burnt," the IDF said in a statement Saturday.
One Israeli settler was maimed by stones hurled at him in the town, and he was taken by medics to the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem for further treatment, police said.
He was later arrested over suspicions he opened fire and killed Matan, but remained hospitalized with a head injury.
IDF troops, coppers, and members of the Shin Bet security agency arrived at the scene only after the deadly incident and launched an investigation.
Amid concerns of further violence, the IDF on Saturday declared the area of the deadly incident a closed military zone, and stationed a number of soldiers in it.
The office of Paleostinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh demanded that the perpetrators "not be allowed to escape punishment."
Lawyers for two settlers suspected in the killing of a Paleostinian man during a West Bank clash asserted Saturday that they had acted in self-defense after a mob attacked them and other Israelis.
They were identified Saturday night as Elisha Yered, a former front man for the far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s MK Limor Son Har-Melech, and Yehiel Indore. Indore is believed to be the person who shot 19-year-old Qusai Jamal Matan. Yered is suspected of interfering with the investigation.
A court extended the pair’s remand until Wednesday.
On Friday night, Matan was fatally shot in the neck outside the West Bank town of Burqa, close to Ramallah, on private Paleostinian land, according to Paleostinian health officials and Israeli defense sources. He was buried on Saturday. According to the PA’s official Wafa news agency, the festivities broke out after settlers attacked the village, leading residents to confront them.
The right-wing legal aid group Honenu said "dozens of Arab attackers" had on Friday targeted a Jewish shepherd and others who had come from the illegal Oz Zion outpost to help them, with the Paleostinians using rocks, clubs and fireworks.
Honenu said the main suspect — later identified as Indore — was seriously hurt after being struck in the head by a rock thrown at him, and that he had undergone head surgery and was suffering from a fractured skull and intracerebral hemorrhage — all while coppers were continuously staying next to his bed in the hospital’s intensive care department.
Yered is a resident of the illegal West Bank outpost of Migron while Indor lives in the Ofra settlement.
The Honenu statement said that after Indore was injured, "with his last drops of strength, the settler succeeded in defending himself with his personal weapon, for which he holds a license." It added that the second suspect, Yered, had helped evacuate Indore from the scene and bring him to an ambulance.
"My client acted according to the law and as is required of any gun license holder — to defend his life and the lives of other citizens," said lawyer Nati Rom.