Hilltop Youth suspected of torching cars, throwing stones

Masked Israelis allegedly threw stones at three Palestinians and sprayed them with pepper spray and then proceeded to light two cars on fire near the Dead Sea on Monday night, according to Ynet.

Israeli youth staying in quarantine in a tent near Metsoke Dragot are suspected of carrying out the attack. The Palestinians did not require medical treatment.

 

The group of far-right youth were quarantined by the IDF in a temporary outpost in the West Bank after shattering the windows of a bus taking them to a quarantine facility and trying to escape.

The group of about 20 hilltop youth from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar had refused to stay at a government quarantine hotel in Jerusalem after they were told they would have to stay in separate rooms.

The youth staying in the tent were not being guarded.

An initial investigation found that three of the quarantined youths saw two Palestinians and one Arab-Israeli woman having a picnic in the area and, after an interaction between the six, returned to the tent and brought about ten of their friends to where the Palestinians were, according to Ynet.

Israel Police suspect that the youth sprayed pepper spray on the three and attacked them with stones, causing to the two Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli to run from the scene, leaving their two vehicles behind. The vehicles were then torched. Police who arrived to the scene took evidence and searched the area.

Police suspect that the same group of Hilltop Youth who refused to go into quarantine last week carried out Monday's attack. The youth were originally meant to be brought further south, but they began to damage the bus they were being transported in and were subsequently brought back to Jerusalem. The youth are expected to have a case opened against them due to the damage caused to the bus.