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The Palestinian taxi cab near Bat Aiyn, August 16, 2012. Photo by Israel Police

Palestinian taxi cab and casualites
August 16, 2012: Photos from Maan article

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Judge Yaron Mintkevich remands suspects, aged 12 and 13, by 24 hours, says will be released barring dramatic progress in the investigation.

By Chaim Levinson for Haaretz

A Jerusalem magistrate's court remanded two boys suspected of hurling a fire bomb at a Palestinian taxi by 24 hours on Sunday, with the presiding judge saying that the police are not in possession of any substantial evidence against the suspects.

Earlier Sunday, Israel Police arrested the children, aged 12 and 13, over suspicions that they hurled fire bombs at a West Bank earlier this month, an attack which resulted in the wounding of six Palestinians, all members of the same family.

According to a police source, the children were arrested by police in the religious school situated in the settlement of Bat Ayin, not far from where the alleged attacks took place two weeks prior.

The source added that it was evidence found on the scene which led to the arrests, with the suspects' attorney said the youths denied any involvement to the incident.

Later in the day, Judge Yaron Mintkevich remanded the two minors by 24 hours, adding, however, that the police would likely have to release the suspects at that time, barring any significant advance in the investigation, since it seems there wasn't a strong case against the boys.

Following the incident earlier this month, Vice Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that the event represented "a terrorist attack," adding that such incidents "run contrary to Jewish morality and values, and constitute first and foremost an educational and moral failure."

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Israel arrests 3 settler children suspected of firebomb attack

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israeli police arrested three settler boys suspected of throwing a firebomb earlier this month at a Palestinian vehicle in the West Bank that injured six people, a spokesman said on Sunday.

The suspects, aged 12 to 13, from Bat Ayin, a settlement in the occupied West Bank, will appear in court later on Sunday to be remanded into custody, said Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

The injured were all from the Hassan family, and included four-year-olds Iman and Muhammad, their parents Ayman, 37, and Jamila, 25, and Hassan Hassan who was driving, Red Crescent official Abdul Jaafra told Ma'an.

Both children suffered first degree burns, and the adults suffered second and third degree burns, Jaafra said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the attack soon after it happened.

Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups say that settlers are rarely prosecuted in cases of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Over 500,000 Israeli settlers live on occupied Palestinian land.

[Ma'an staff in Bethlehem contributed to this report]