One of the parents accompanying the children
Case closed against parents who shot dead Palestinian attacker
Central District Attorney's Office cites lack of guilt in decision to close case against parents who accompanied group of 20 children on trip near Qusra and came under attack by a Palestinian mob; the shooting of Mahmoud Za’al Odeh, who was among the rioters, was found to be in self defense.
The Central District Attorney's Office said Monday it has decided to close the case against two Israelis
who shot dead
a Palestinian who was part of a group throwing stones at a group of children they were accompanying, citing lack of guilt.
The decision stated the shooting of 47-year-old Mahmoud Za’al Odeh from the village of Qusra was found to be in self defense.
On November 30, 2017, a group of 20 Israeli children and two parents accompanying them went on a Bar Mitzva trip near the village of Qusra, in the Nablus Governorate.
One of the parents accompanying the children, who was wounded in the incident
During their hike, the Israeli group came under attack by dozens of Palestinian rioters, including Odeh, who hurled rocks and stones at them from up a slope.
The two parents, who claimed they felt their lives were in danger, said they only fired warning shots into the air. One of the bullets hit Odeh, killing him.
The Israeli group fled their attackers into a cave, with some of the Palestinians pursuing and attacking the children and one of the parents, wounding the adult.
Some residents from Qusra came to aid the group of Israelis and protect them until IDF forces arrived at the scene to extract them.
The Israeli group leaving the area after the arrival of Israeli forces (Photo: EPA)
The investigation confirmed that the shooting was done while the attackers were standing up the slope and throwing stones down at the Israeli group. This was in line with the Israeli suspects' version, whose shooting into the air could have conceivably hit Odeh, who was among the stone throwers.
In addition, the Israelis' version of events was backed by the testimony of one of Qusra's residents, who said the suspects fired only in self defense and only after stones were thrown at them.
Some of the attackers have been indicted by the Military Advocate General's Office.
Honenu, a legal NGO that has provided the Israeli suspects with legal assistance, said in a statement: "From the first moment it was clear that a barbaric mob attacked a group of hikers whose only sin was that they were Jews who went on a Bar Mitzva trip in the Land of Israel. We lament the injustice done to the parents so far, and the fact that immediately upon their discharge from the hospital they had to be questioned at the police station, and rather than receive a commendation, they were made suspects. The police in their actions personally hurt the brave parents."
