The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court on Wednesday rejected a request by police and the Shin Bet to extend the detention of a 25-year-old reservist soldier by 12 days, instead ordering a two-day extension.
The soldier, a resident of Samaria who served hundreds of days in reserve duty as a fighter in the Duchifat Battalion and fought in Gaza, is suspected of involvement in the killing of a Palestinian terrorist during an incident that occurred about a month ago near the village of Qusra.
According to reports, the incident began when Arabs attacked Jewish shepherds in the area. Civilian and military security forces were dispatched to assist the shepherds and repel the attackers. During the court hearing, it was revealed that the Palestinian who was killed was a Hamas operative who had previously been involved in a severe lynching of Jewish teenagers hiking near the community of Migdalim during a bar mitzvah outing. Hamas also published an official mourning notice and eulogies following his death.
The reservist was arrested early in the morning by the Shin Bet and taken to an interrogation facility under an order barring him from meeting with a lawyer-a severe legal measure typically used against terror suspects. An appeal filed by the Honenu organization against the order was rejected.
Attorney Nati Rom, who represents the soldier, sharply criticized the conduct of law enforcement authorities. “It is painful to see a reservist soldier subjected to the most extreme measures, tools usually reserved for the worst of our enemies. In wartime, this is all the more troubling. We asked the investigating unit whether they were aware that this was a Hamas operative who participated in a lynching of children, and they replied that it was ‘irrelevant.’ This is a soldier with no criminal record who was carrying out his duty under attack."