adminJERUSALEM. — Three people have confessed to murdering a Palestinian teenager whose death sparked riots in occupied East Jerusalem, the AP news agency and Israeli media have said.An unnamed Israeli official told AP the suspects yesterday were re-enacting the killing of Mohammed Abu Khdeir for authorities. Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post newspapers reported similar comments by unnamed officials.
The reports could not be fully confirmed due to a gagging order on the case.
Abu Khedeir (16), was abducted near his home last week as he went to morning prayer, and his charred remains were found in a forest outside the city.
Israeli police arrested six people in connection with his death, which Palestinians say was a revenge attack for the murder of three young settlers last month. Those arrested included children.
The teenager’s death led to several days of violent protests in Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem. The confession reports came just hours after Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, spoke to the father of Abu Khdeir, and promised to bring his killers to trial.
His office said in a statement that he had told Hussein Abu Khdeir that his son’s killing was “reprehensible”.
“I would like to express my outrage and that of the citizens of Israel over the reprehensible murder of your son,” Netanyahu told Hussein Abu Khdeir in a statement released by his office.
“The murder of your son is abhorrent and cannot be countenanced by any human being,” Netanyahu said, adding, “We acted immediately to apprehend the murderers. We will bring them to trial and they will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.”
“We denounce all brutal behaviour; the murder of your son is abhorrent and cannot be countenanced by any human being,” Netanyahu said.
The statement did not specify the father’s response, but on Sunday he told local TV channels that he does not have faith in Netanyahu’s “government of settlers” and said that he holds the government as an “accomplice” to his son’s murder. Abu Khdeir said that “a day before the killing, some ministers and parliament members called ‘death to Arabs.’ They gave power to extremists who want to kill Arabs.” — Al Jazeera/Xinhua/HR.
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