Police arrest 4 Israelis after Palestinian teen killed

Police confiscate guns in suspects' possession; men claim they were hiking when Palestinians threw rocks at them, shot back in self-defense.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
deadPalestinianteen311 (photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
deadPalestinianteen311
(photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Sunday extended the arrest of four men suspected of involvement in last Friday’s shooting death of a Palestinian teen from the West Bank village of Beit Omar, near Hebron.
The court extended until Tuesday and Wednesday the remands of two men police believe were involved in the incident. On Saturday night, the court extended by four days the remands of two other men.
RELATED:‘Palestinian teen was shot dead after throwing rocks’
Two of the men are from Otniel, one is from Alon Shvut and the fourth is from Ashkelon. None of the men have a criminal background, according to police.
The police have confiscated three guns that were in the men’s possession. A police forensics unit plans to go to the scene of the shooting Monday to search for more evidence.
According to police the men explained that they were part of an organized hike that passed by the village of Beit Omar early Friday morning.
Palestinians with rocks attacked the group of hikers as they walked in the valley below the village, the men told police, and they shot in selfdefense.
Police are investigating the Palestinian claim that these shots killed Yousef Ikhlay, 17, and wounded Bila Mohammad Abed Al-Qador.
Separately, police have continued to investigate Thursday’s shooting death of Oday Maher Hamza Kadous, 19, from the village of Iraq Burin.
In the hours after his death, Palestinians had claimed that settlers killed him as he farmed his village’s land.
An IDF security video, relayed late Saturday night, however, showed that no one was farming at the time of the death.
Police are studying the video to try and identify the gunman.
When viewed on a regular computer screen it is hard to identify any of the people in the video, or to see any fine details that would indicate if they were holding a rock or a gun.
The video shows a figure dressed in dark clothing that looks like a man, standing by the side of a dirt road in the West Bank.
A young man wearing a white shirt and who appears to hold a rock in his hand is seen approaching the figure. A second young man approaches the road, as the two of them stand there. The young man with the white shirt then chases the man in the dark clothing for a few seconds, and then appears to fall down.
It is assumed that he was shot by the man in the dark clothing, who then runs off.