The Jerusalem District Court has ordered bus driver Fakhri Khatib to be released to house arrest.
Khatib fatally rammed 14-year-old Yosef Eisental during the haredi protest in Jerusalem, and Israel Police requested a 15-day extension of his arrest.
On Wednesday, the police reduced the charge against Khatib from aggravated murder to manslaughter. The Magistrate's Court decided to extend the suspect's detention by nine days, with the judge stating: "I believe the driver that this was a stressful situation. However, I do not believe that driving into a crowd is a reasonable option, and as we saw, its results were severe."
However, the driver, through his attorneys, appealed to the District Court to contest the decision to extend his detention. On Thursday morning, it was decided to release him to a three-day house arrest.
The ramming occurred Tuesday during a violent anti-draft protest by the haredi community. During the demonstration, protesters blocked major roads in Jerusalem, set fire to trash cans, and gathered around passing vehicles.
One of the targeted vehicles was the Line 64 bus, whose driver, Khatib, called the police asking for help and shortly thereafter accelerated and drove into a crowd, killing Eisental and injuring three others.