7 Jews charged with attacks against Palestinians in West Bank

A group of seven Jewish suspects were charged on Monday for allegedly carrying out a series of attacks against Palestinians, according to the Israeli Court Authority.

The indictment against them was filed at the Lod District Court on Monday in central Israel. It charges that the group formed a "terror cell" which attacked Palestinians and vandalized their property in order to "spread havoc and fear" among them, according to a protocol by the Court Authority spokesperson.

The defendants are all from Nahliel, a West Bank settlement north of Ramallah, including an Israeli soldier and two minors. They are accused of attacks that were carried out during the second half of 2015.

The suspects have allegedly torched Palestinian property, threw stones, firebombs and performed other acts of vandalism, according to the indictment. They are charged with aggravated assault with racist intent, illegally carrying weapons, attempted aggravated assault and unlawful association.

According to the indictment, in one of the attacks in November, members of the group threw firebombs at a home in the village of Mizraa during the night, while the family was asleep, and scrawled "death to Arabs" outside the house. No injuries were caused in this attack.

A similar attack occurred a month later, with members of the cell throwing tear gas grenades unto the home of a family in the Palestinian village of Beitillu, also causing no injuries.

Other attacks included wounding a Palestinian farmer using sticks and tear gas and setting cars of Palestinians on fire, among others.

The suspects have admitted to the crimes and reenacted some of them, according to the Shin Bet security agency, which announced their arrest last week, while describing the group as "extreme and violent".

The Shin Bet said last week the group "systematically harmed Palestinians and their property, with full knowledge that human lives can be harmed, even after the result of the arson attack on a home in Duma."

In July, firebombs thrown by Jewish extremists at a home in the Palestinian village of Duma resulted in the deaths of an 18-month old baby, Ali Dawabshe, and both his parents, who died later from their wounds.

Israeli security forces have announced they have increased their efforts of fighting Jewish terrorism following this incident.

Ultra-nationalist Israelis have in the past years been charged with vandalizing Palestinian property and other religions' religious sites (like mosques, churches and cemeteries) as well targeting Israeli left-wingers, in what came to be known as "price tag" attacks.

These attacks aim to exact a price for any damage to the settlement enterprise, as well as protest the arrests of other Jewish extremists, and create unrest in the West Bank.

According to a report issued by the non-governmental organization, Yesh Din, which advocates for human rights in the West Bank last May, up until then about 85 percent of the cases of attacks and vandalism against Palestinians have been closed due to failure of the police investigators to locate suspects or find sufficient evidence to enable indictments, with only 7.4 percent of investigations yielding indictments.

Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories in the 1967 Mideast territories, with the international community viewing the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal. Endit