[ 17/04/2011 - 05:33 PM ]
NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Palestinians have rejected claims by Israeli invesigators after two Palestinian youths were accused of being behind the killing of a family of five Israeli settlers in the Itamar settlement southeast of the West Bank city of Nablus on March 11.
The Israeli claim lacks evidence for the accusations, said Qais Awad, the mayor of Awarta village, where the men were arrested and near where the Itamar village lies.
Police had cracked down on the village for longer than a month, arresting hundreds and searching nearly every home, in search of a clue to the killer. Private land was also confiscated and homes were destroyed during the raids.
Awad said the charges were placed to cover up the continued attacks police have made as they have placed the village in turmoil.
He hinted that the possibility remains that the Israeli forces that seized the village could have fabricated evidence and placed it at the crime scene. He called for the formation of a committee to investigate the charges.
A West Bank council head said that more settlements would be built in response to the killings.
The men arrested were identified as Amjad Mohammed Awad, 19, and Hakim Mazen Awad, 18. Police said they operated individually and stabbed the family of Jewish settlers to death. They claimed that six others who aided them to conceal the knives and burn the cloths allegedly used in the incident were arrested.
Meanwhile, the central Israeli court in Nazareth has submitted an indictment against three Palestinian men for planning to carry out an operation against Israeli targets.
The men were alleged to have planned to form a cell in January 2009 that would have carried out operations against Israeli police and soldiers in response to the Israeli massacres earlier that month.
River to Sea
Home »
Deception »
Occupied West Bank »
Palestinian detainees »
Palestinians enraged after suspects accused in Itamar incident
