Destroyed IDF outpost
Destroyed IDF outpostIDF Spokesperson's Office

Judge Eitan Kornhauser of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court has released a young Yitzhar resident to house arrest, after the youth was arrested at the Oranit junction on Sunday on suspicions of being involved with the demolition of an IDF outpost. Police had initially requested to court to detain the teen for another five days. 

The young man was identified as a participant in the demolition of an IDF outpost in Yitzhar, in a photo lineup. Youths from Yitzhar were blamed for the violent action, which sparked a outcry in the media and Knesset.

However, the youth claims - and evidence shows - that he was actually part of a group of teens who arrived at the outpost in a show of support for the reserve soldiers after the dramatic clashes between the IDF and extremists in Yitzhar earlier this month.

The youth was represented by Attorney Erez Bar-Tzvi of the rights group Honenu. 

Honenu noted that the arrest was made on questionable legal grounds. 

"[The arrest was] probably made after the police failed to bring any evidence against the residents of Yitzhar, and judges from the various courts released one suspect after another, who were nabbed over the incident," a Honenu representative stated Tuesday. "It appears police have been ordered to arrest anyone who lives in the community." 

Honenu's accusation of police brutality against Yitzhar residents is not the first. Earlier this month, a Yitzhar woman claimed that police treated her severely, confining her and depriving her of her rights for hours under cruel conditions, after she was arrested on trumped-up charges. 

The Yitzhar community has accused security forces of carrying out "collective punishment" on the small Samaria community, after a group of extremists clashed with IDF soldiers in a dramatic series of events earlier this month.