The Israeli army announced Monday that it had arrested a suspect in the recent murder of a young Israeli shepherd in the West Bank, where armed settlers had carried out deadly raids on several villages in retaliation. Benjamin Achimeir, 14, disappeared on April 12 while grazing his sheep, returning without him to the farm where he lived in the Malachei HaShalom settlement, northeast of Ramallah. His body was discovered the next day nearby.
In connection with this murder, Israeli soldiers arrested during a nighttime raid a resident of the Palestinian village of Duma, located a few kilometers from Malachei HaShalom, the Israeli army announced, identifying the arrested suspect as Ahmed Dawabcheh, 21 years. “During his first interrogation, Dawabcheh claimed to have participated in the April 12 terrorist attack near Malachei HaShalom Farms, during which 14-year-old Benjamin Achimeir was murdered,” the army said in a statement. communicated.
Information to remember:
- Israeli army announces arrest of suspect in killing of young Israeli shepherd in West Bank
- Two people lightly injured in car-ramming attack in Jerusalem
- Two suspects, who fled on foot, were arrested
After the disappearance, then the discovery of the body, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian communities – sometimes previously sealed off by the army -, burning homes and vehicles. A Palestinian was killed and 23 people injured in the village of Al-Mughayyir, located 500 m from Malachei HaShalom and stormed by settlers armed with assault rifles and Molotov cocktails, causing 86 residents to flee. , according to OCHA, the UN humanitarian agency.
In the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel since 1967, three million Palestinians live as well as nearly 490,000 Israelis living in colonies considered illegal under international law, including the Malachei HaShalom site. Evacuated several times by the army, it is regularly reoccupied by settlers. The West Bank has been the scene of an outbreak of violence for two years, exacerbated by the deadly attack carried out on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel, which triggered the current war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces carry out almost daily raids in the West Bank, saying they want to fight against Palestinian armed groups.
At least 486 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7 by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Nine Israelis, including five members of the security forces, have been killed in violence in the West Bank since the same date, according to OCHA.
Two injured in car-ramming attack in Jerusalem
Two people were lightly injured in a car-ramming attack in Jerusalem on Monday, the first day of Passover, according to emergency services and police, who said they had arrested the two suspected perpetrators. “Two civilians were knocked down (…) in Jerusalem, resulting in minor injuries. Two terrorists fled the scene on foot and on their escape route was found a homemade ‘Carlo’ type weapon”, a submachine gun manufactured by Palestinian armed groups, the police initially indicated in a press release.
After a vast search operation, the police announced at the end of the morning the arrest of “the two terrorists who carried out” this attack, discovered hiding in a business. The identity of the two suspects was not revealed but the army announced in a subsequent statement “to be at work in Hebron, at the homes of the terrorists” and “to investigate individuals suspected of having helped them”. Hebron, located in the south of the territory, is the largest city in the West Bank.
Images from surveillance cameras, broadcast by Israeli television, show a white car swerving to hit a group of people on a sidewalk on a bend, before ending its course into a parked vehicle. Two young men then get out of the car, guns in hand, and appear to attempt, unsuccessfully, to open fire, before leaving the scene on foot. The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said it treated and transported to hospital two young men aged 18 and 22 suffering from minor injuries after the attack.