The men were questioned in connection to violence between their community and nearby Palestinian village Kusra in February.
By BEN HARTMAN, TOVAH LAZAROFFEsh Kodesh clashes 370(photo credit: Tazpit News Agency)
Judea and Samaria police on Tuesday released five men from the West Bank outpost of Eish Kodesh who had been detained earlier in the day in connection with an outbreak of violence with residents of the neighboring Palestinian village of Kusra.According to their attorney, Yehuda Shoshan, the men were cleared of any wrongdoing in connection to the events of February 23, when two Palestinians were wounded by live-fire and a third was hit by a rubber bullet.Shoshan said the incident began when some 200 people from Kusra infiltrated the outpost’s vineyards and threw stones at the settlers. He added that Border Police and Eish Kodesh’s security team responded in an attempt to disperse them, shooting in the air.Palestinians say they were responding to a settler attack on their village.The attorney said police were now investigating the possibility that the two Palestinians wounded by live fire had been shot by Border Police. Investigators said they were conducting a forensic examination of the firearms.The five men who were detained are in their twenties.One is a soldier, serving in the IDF’s rabbinical branch, police said.Their detention and interrogation followed an undercover operation by the district’s YAMAR investigative branch. YAMAR detectives and YASSAM special patrol officers went to the outpost to pick up the men and confiscate their weapons.
