JERUSALEM: 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.
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. French, Belgian and Polish diplomats and a French mayor were attacked by masked settlers in another part of the West Bank on Saturday.
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.
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. It said the investigation into the violent incidents continued.
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 Israeli rights group Yesh Din.
Mounting wave of violence
The attacks followed a mounting wave of militant Israeli settler violence during the Palestinian olive harvest.
Yesh Din has reported 125 physical attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters over the 24 days since the season began.
The attacks often include cases where militant settlers throw stones, physically assault and sometimes shoot at Palestinians. Levine was taken to hospital after she was attacked, and underwent surgery on a finger.
Israeli settlers have killed at least 30 Palestinians since the beginning of the year according to the Palestinian Authority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presided over a rapid expansion of settlements. UN bodies and most countries deem Israel’s settlements on land occupied in war illegal under international law regarding military occupations. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.