Israeli official says Jewish suspects held in killing of Palestinian teen

7/6/2014

Suha Abu Khdeir, mother of 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir, a U.S. citizen who goes to school in Tampa, Florida, sits in her home and shows a tablet with a photo of Tariq taken in a hospital after he was beaten and arrested by the Israeli police during clashes sparked by the murder Thursday of his cousin Mohammed Abu Khdeir, in Jerusalem, Saturday, July 5, 2014. Israeli police spokeswoman, said that Tariq Abu Khdeir had resisted arrest and attacked police officers. Tariq’s father said he witnessed his son’s arrest and insisted the boy was not involved in the violence. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERUSALEM —Israeli authorities on Sunday announced the arrests of several Jewish suspects in the death of a Palestinian teenager who was abducted and killed last week, marking a major breakthrough in a case that has sparked violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel.

In a joint statement, Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency said the suspects were arrested early Sunday. They remained in custody and were being interrogated by the Shin Bet.

While the statement did not say how many suspects were in custody, an official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said they numbered six in total.

The announcement shed new light on a case that has gripped the country’s attention since Muhammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was abducted outside his home in east Jerusalem early Wednesday and his charred remains were found in a Jerusalem forest shortly afterward. Palestinians immediately accused Jewish extremists of killing Abu Khdeir to avenge the earlier kidnapping and killings of three Israeli teens.

Police had investigated various motives for Abu Khdeir’s death, including criminal or personal motives. But officials said Sunday they believed the killers acted on nationalistic grounds.

The official described the suspects as young males, including several minors, and said they came from Jerusalem, the nearby city of Beit Shemesh and Adam, a West Bank settlement near Jerusalem.

He said police had located a car used by the suspects, and that security camera footage allegedly showing parts of the abduction in recent days did not help police. During the investigation, however, police learned of an attempting kidnapping the previous day of a young child in the same east Jerusalem neighborhood and concluded the incidents were linked.

News of Abu Khdeir’s death triggered violent protests in the east Jerusalem neighborhood where he lived, as angry crowds destroyed light-rail train stations, clashed with police and littered roads with stones and debris. The unrest spread to Arab areas of northern Israel over the weekend.

In east Jerusalem, home to the most violent protests over the teen’s death, Abu Khdeir’s family said news of the arrests brought them little joy.

“I don’t have any peace in my heart, even if they captured who they say killed my son,” said his mother Suha. “They’re only going to ask them questions and then release them. What’s the point?”

“They need to treat them the way they treat us. They need to demolish their homes and round them up, the way they do it to our children,” she added.

His father, Hussein, said the family still had not been officially informed of any arrests. “Even if they rounded up all of Israel, they will not bring my son back,” he said.