Thursday, July 19, 2018, 18:31 Three weeks have passed since the assault and serious injury of a Jewish youth by several Arabs in the Binyamin region, and there has been no report of detained suspects, despite the fact that the youth identified his assailants. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is providing the youth with legal counsel, stated that the police are not giving him adequate replies about the progress of the investigation.
The incident occurred on June 26. A Jewish youth was assaulted and seriously injured by
Assaulted youth; Photo courtesy of the photographer
several Arabs at the Oz Tzion outpost near the Givat Assaf Junction in the Binyamin region. He suffered cuts to his head, which required stitches, fractured ribs and pneumothorax (abnormal collection of air in the chest cavity) resulting from a punctured lung and was hospitalized for several days. Despite the severity of the injury, the police have been slow to the detain the assailants, and their conduct in the case is raising questions.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher sent an urgent letter to the Yehuda and Shomron District Police Commander. In the letter, Bleicher demanded information from the police and the Binyamin Intelligence Branch concerning progress in the investigation and the detention of suspects. Bleicher mentioned that his client, who was seriously injured in the assault, deserves to receive updates: “Have suspects been detained, or have they not yet been apprehended, and they continue to constitute a threat to my client and additional potential victims?”
Bleicher continued: “As of now, three weeks after the serious assault on my client, I have not yet received information Concerning actions taken against the suspects. I will repeat my demand to detain and interrogate the assailants, as soon as possible, for attempting to intentionally cause the death of my client.
“I reiterate that the youth was assaulted three weeks ago while he was staying at the Oz Tzion outpost near Givat Assaf in the Binyamin region. Several Arabs approached him, threw rocks at him, and then also beat him with a club until he collapsed. After he succeeded in summoning assistance, he was hospitalized with cuts to his head, fractured ribs and pneumothorax (abnormal collection of air in the chest cavity) resulting from a punctured lung. When he was injured and still at the scene of the incident the youth identified his assailants, even though they had showered and changed clothes, and reported the information to the police. The following day the police summoned only the father of the assailants, for interrogation only. To date, it is not known whether or not detentions have been made for the assault, despite the fact that they [the assailants] were identified by the assaulted youth, by a security officer who arrived first on the scene and by soldiers who were in the area.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher: “Today, three weeks after the serious assault which threatened his life, after which the assailants were identified at the scene by the injured Israeli, it is not yet known whether or not the police have taken any action towards detaining the suspects. As a citizen I am very concerned by this conduct.”