Israeli far right praise suspected killers of 19-year-old Palestinian Qusai Mu'tan

Israeli politicians from the far-right are hailing Elisha Yered and Yehiel Indore, the two illegal settlers suspected of killing the 19-year-old Palestinian Qusai Mu'tan from the village of Burqa last Friday, 4 August, as "heroes".  

Elisha Yered is currently under police custody, while Yehiel Indore is being treated in a hospital for injuries sustained on Friday night during the settlers' assault at the Palestinian village. 

One Palestinian was killed Friday night, four others were injured, and a Palestinian vehicle was found burned during confrontations between Palestinians and settlers in Burqa. According to the Israeli army, several Israeli civilians were injured from rocks hurled at them. 

The Israeli army cited Palestinian reports and witnesses saying clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli civilians herding sheep near Burqa village.

The two settlers, according to the Israeli police, are the main suspects in the shooting and killing of the young Palestinian man Qusai Mu'tan. According to Palestinian sources and the Israeli military, the incident happened on private Palestinian land. 

Five Palestinians were also arrested for Friday's events. A police statement said that three adults and two minors from the town of Burqa were detained on suspicion of "committing serious assault and causing damages near the village". 

Yered was a former spokesman for MK Son Har-Melech from the Otzma Yehudit, or the Jewish Power party. Har-Melech also blasted the arrests. 

Earlier, Israeli news outlet Ynet reported that Yered "has been heating things in the area for a long while, also leading to a rise in Palestinian terror and rock throwing". 

The settler, Elisha Yered, who murdered a Palestinian teenager last Friday was previously arrested (& released) in August last year for breaking into a Palestinian home, vandalizing & stealing equipment

3 months later, #Israeli MP Son Har-Melech hired him as her spokesman & aide pic.twitter.com/egS1VQwI6X

— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) August 6, 2023

Yered and Indore received support from the national security minister and Jewish Power party leader, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir released a statement praising the suspected gunman on Sunday. 

"My policy is clear. Anyone who defends himself against rock-throwing should get a medal of honour", the statement read. 

Pro-settler groups framed the killing of the Qusai Mu'tan as an act of self-defence. In contrast, the fact that Palestinians defended their property has been brushed aside. 

Two ruling coalition members, Zvi Sukkot from the Religious Zionism party and MK Tally Gotliv of Netanyahu's Likud party, paid care visits to Indore at the hospital. 

Gotliv said she was "horrified" by Indore's arrest, adding he's "no less than a terror victim". 

With an effective majority in the Knesset and the cabinet, the far right now drives Israeli politics. 

Friday's killings came three days after a Palestinian gunman wounded six people in a shooting at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank before being shot dead.

The suspect in the killing in of Qusai Mi'tan in Burqa (below) is brought before an Israeli criminal court.
Palestinians from Burqa, when arrested for any office, are brought before an Israeli military court.
Two systems of laws, for two kinds of people.
No wonder he's smiling pic.twitter.com/1bt5riNhw5

— Yair Wallach (@YairWallach) August 6, 2023

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 war. Excluding illegally annexed east Jerusalem, the territory is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis living in illegal settlements under international law.

In June, Israeli settlers attacked the occupied West Bank village of Turmus Ayya following the killing of four Israelis by Palestinian gunmen, which militant group Hamas said was in response to an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp, which killed six Palestinians.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said it had recorded 591 settler-related "incidents" in the occupied West Bank in the first six months of 2023, resulting in Palestinian casualties, property damage, or both.

"That's an average of 99 incidents every month, and a 39-percent-increase compared with the monthly average of the whole of 2022, which is 71," spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva.