'No indication rock-thrower was shot'

Autopsy finds no evidence Palestinian youth was shot by settler; police says it will release suspect.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
paelstinian stone throwers 248.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
paelstinian stone throwers 248.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Police are seeking the release on bail of a settler held overnight over the suspected shooting of Palestinian rock-thrower, after coroners at the Abu Kabir Forensic Center found that the youth did not die of gunshot wounds as previously suspected. Amos Merav, of the Samaria settlement of Emanuele, was interrogated by police and arrested on Tuesday night after he used his personal firearm to fire shots at three Palestinian youths who pelted his vehicle with rocks as he drove on Route 55 in Samaria. A police investigation has so far confirmed that Merav's car was struck with rocks and that rocks were thrown in the area. "He was driving with his 14-year-old girl in the car," Kranei Shomron Spokesman Arik Zorger told the Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. "Three Palestinian teenagers, who are known as rock throwers, pelted the car with large rocks. Merav fired in their direction to protect himself. He didn't know what happened to the teenagers, and he drove to a security point at Kranei Shomron to report the incident," Zorger added. A military doctor called to the scene declared the youth's death, though the cause of death has not yet been established by coroners. "The reality here is unbearable," Zorger said. "Despite the efforts of the army, which we appreciate, we do not have security here. There are two incidents involving rocks or Molotov cocktails thrown at Israeli vehicles here a day," he added. Zorger said a vehicle driven in the area by a 19-year-old woman was hit with a Molotov cocktail last week.