Israel confirms Jewish arrests over deadly attack on Palestinian woman

Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday that they have been holding Jewish minors suspected of a fatal stone-throwing attack on a Palestinian woman. The arrests had led to mounting speculation in the Israeli media, but authorities had refused to comment, citing a gag order on details of the case while the investigation continued. There was also a protest of several hundred people on Saturday night outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence over the detention of the Jewish minors. Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency said in a statement that a number of suspects had been arrested on December 30, more than two months after Aisha Rabi was killed on October 12. "The suspects were arrested for serious terrorist offences, including murder," the Shin Bet statement said. It added that the stoning took place near the Jewish settlement of Rechalim, close to Rabi's village of Bidiya in the Israeli-occupied northern West Bank. Rabi, a mother of nine, was struck on the head in the attack and died later at a hospital in the city of Nablus, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported at the time. Her husband, who was driving the car at the time, escaped with minor injuries, WAFA said. Palestinian witnesses and security sources cited by the news agency said the stones were thrown by Israeli settlers. The Shin Bet did not give the number or ages of suspects held, but said they were members of a Jewish seminary in Rechalim. Their parents and lawyers have been protesting since the arrests over what they said was their sons' detention in an undisclosed location without access to lawyers. Israeli investigations into "Jewish terrorism" -- as such cases are often referred to by Israeli media -- are highly sensitive. Israeli authorities have been accused by rights activists of dragging their feet in such cases in comparison to investigations into Palestinian attacks, while far-right Israelis say suspects have undergone coercement and torture. Palestinians carry the body of Aisha Rabi who died after a stone-throwing attack, during her funeral in the West Bank village of Bidiya on October 13, 2018