Nine of the 10 suspects arrested in an investigation into militant settler attacks on a US journalist and European diplomats have been released from custody and placed under house arrest, a law firm that represents settlers said, Reuters reported from Jerusalem on Thursday. The Associated Press carried the same account.

Source: Reuters (via SRN News)

The right-wing law firm Honenu said in a statement late on Wednesday that a Jerusalem court had ordered nine of the 10 suspects to be released to house arrest. The Israeli police said in a statement that only one suspect remained in custody and that the investigation into the violent incidents continued, both Reuters and the AP reported.

Source: Associated Press (via AAP)

Masked Israeli settlers were filmed last week assaulting Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was covering a Palestinian olive harvest in the occupied West Bank; she was taken to hospital and underwent surgery on a finger. In a separate incident on Saturday, masked settlers assaulted French, Belgian and Polish diplomats and a French mayor in another part of the West Bank, Reuters reported.

The 10 suspects were detained after the United States, Israel's closest ally, called for a crackdown on settler violence and for arrests to be made after the attack on Levine. France, Belgium and Poland also urged Israel — which holds a parliamentary election next week — to take action, Reuters and the AP reported.

9 of 10settler-attack suspects released from custody to house arrest, the Honenu law firm said
125physical attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters in the 24 days since the season began, Yesh Din reported
409attacks documented in the West Bank in October, 317 of them by settlers, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said

Such arrests are rare, with several Israeli rights groups saying that the majority of militant settler attacks in the West Bank are carried out with impunity. “In the vast majority of attacks against Palestinians, no arrests are made at all. In cases that receive media coverage … the police arrest several settlers and release most of them shortly afterward,” said Yonatan Kanonich, head of research at the Israeli rights group Yesh Din, quoted by Reuters and the AP. Yesh Din has reported 125 physical attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters over the 24 days since the harvest season began.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory was “out of control”, citing daily attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians as well as assaults on journalists and diplomats, and he called for “a credible political path towards lasting peace”, according to reports of his remarks carried by Reuters-syndicated and other outlets.

What is solid

  • A Jerusalem court ordered nine of the 10 suspects released to house arrest late on Wednesday, Honenu said, and police said one suspect remained in custody with the investigation continuing (Reuters; AP).
  • Masked settlers were filmed assaulting Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine during an olive harvest last week; she needed surgery on a finger (Reuters; AP).
  • French, Belgian and Polish diplomats and a French mayor were attacked by masked settlers in a separate incident on Saturday (Reuters; AP).
  • The suspects were detained after the US called for a crackdown on settler violence and France, Belgium and Poland urged Israel to act (Reuters; AP).

What is only claimed

  • No charges or court findings against the nine released suspects have been reported yet — release to house arrest is a custody decision, not an acquittal, and Awaaz Punjab does not present any suspect's guilt as established.
  • The 409-attacks-in-October figure comes from the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian Authority body; Israeli authorities have not published a matching count, so the figure is reported with its source attached.