A Petach Tikva Magistrates Court Monday night extended by seven days the arrest of three youth who were taken into custody in a pre-dawn sweep at Yitzhar in Samaria Monday morning. They are suspected of damaging Arab property, and police said they confiscated metal spikes allegedly intended for use against Arabs.

Israelis media have assumed that the suspects are being investigated for the arson of an Arab mosque several months ago. Two of the suspects, all of them 20 years old, are residents of Yitzhar, and one is from the nearby community of Elon Moreh.