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Elisha Yered at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi Published by Haaretz

Elisha Yared. Published by IMEMC News

Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, Yered's former boss, at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi Published by Haaretz
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by Hagar Shezaf for Haaretz
Aug 8, 2023 4:50 pm IDT

An Israeli court on Tuesday ordered Elisha Yered, the suspect in the killing of 19-year-old Palestinian Qosai Jammal Mi'tan last Friday, to be placed under a weeklong house arrest.

However, due to the police's request to appeal the decision, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court postponed Yered's release until 8 P.M.

Judge Tamar Bar-Asher stated during the hearing that in her view "there is no substantial evidence gathered thus far to establish reasonable suspicion of Yered's involvement in the fatal offenses." The judge added that evidence presented by the police to support its claim of disrupting the investigation proceedings is of "very low strength," in her wording, and doubts whether it is sufficient to justify continued detention.

Bar-Asher instructed Yered not to communicate with those involved in the incident during his house arrest and obligated him to provide bail.

On Wednesday, there will be a hearing over the extension of the detention of another suspect in the murder, Yehiel Indor, who was critically injured in the incident and is currently hospitalized in serious condition at Sha'are Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

In addition, four Palestinians suspected of attacking settlers in the Burqa clash remain in custody and are likely to be brought to a hearing for an extension in the coming days.

Also reported on Tuesday that Israeli security organizations are pushing to issue an administrative detention order against Yered, effectively detaining him without a trial or charge. They also are reported to have enough intelligence against Yered, a top target of the Shin Bet since he was a minor, to enable them to issue the order or deny him access to the West Bank.

The police suspect that Yered took the weapon with which Indore had allegedly shot Mi'tan in Burqa and buried it in the lands of the Ramat Migron outpost where he lives. Once the police arrived at Yered's house, he led them to the buried weapon, claiming that he did not intend to hide it and disrupt their investigation, but was afraid that if the weapon was left at the scene, it would be eventually found by the Palestinians.

Police sources told Haaretz that if an indictment is filed against Yered, it will be for obstructing justice and possessing a weapon without a license, and not for murder. Sources in the State Prosecutor's Office say that the chances that Indore will be indicted for murder are also small. The reason, they explain, is that Indore, who was seriously injured in the confrontation, claims he acted in self-defense as his life was in danger.

The investigation faces several challenges since the Palestinian Authority has not handed over Mi'tan's body for examination. As a result, there is no forensic evidence connecting Indore's weapon to the wounds from the victim's gun.

According to the Jewish Department of the Shin Bet security services, Yered, who grew up in the hardline West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, is considered an agitator and an instigator of conflicts between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank in general, and particularly in the area near the Oz Zion and Ramat Magron outposts.

In November, he was appointed the spokesperson for Otzma Yehudit Lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech only to resign in April after criticizing the far-right government's "lax" policies in the West Bank.

"He constantly adds fuel to the fire," a senior security official told Haaretz, adding that Yered is "very well-connected to political figures, both in the regional councils and the Knesset. He makes sure that the politicians will back them up, and he has a great ability to influence young people."

Yered has called for violent actions against Palestinians. For example, while he was MK Son Har-Melech's spokesperson, he shared in a journalists’ WhatsApp group a video titled "Questions and answers: Why Hawara should be wiped out?" Yered has also called to "wipe out Hawara" on Twitter, together with dozens of other accounts. "We want revenge. Not in concrete but in blood. The enemy needs to bathe in his blood."
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WAFA: “Foreign Ministry | Release of Settler Who Killed a Young Palestinian Encourages Settlers to Commit More Crimes”

by IMEMC News
Aug 8, 2023

RAMALLAH, Tuesday, August 8, 2023 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned today an Israeli court’s decision to release an extremist Israeli terrorist accused of killing a young Palestinian in the village of Burqa, near Ramallah.

In a statement, the ministry condemned the release of Elisha Yarda, who was arrested by the Israeli police as one of the two suspects in the killing of Qusai Maatan in Burqa on Friday.

The ministry said the court released the terrorist settler and placed him under house arrest disregarding the fact that he attacked the town of Burqa and his public incitement to kill Palestinians while bragging about it.

This decision is provocative and encourages extremist terrorist settlers to commit more assaults and attacks against Palestinian towns and people, and gives Jewish settler terrorist organizations more sense of impunity, the ministry affirmed.

It said that it is not surprised by this expected decision by the occupation courts and its judicial system, which has proven over decades that it is an integral part of the occupation system and does not issue its decisions based on any law, but rather according to the interests of Israeli colonialism and settlement.

It called on countries and international and national courts not to give any consideration to the Israeli investigations and courts and to immediately initiate their own investigations regarding the crimes of terrorist settlers operating in the occupied West Bank.