Five residents of the northern Israeli-Druze village of Yarka were recently arrested by the Shin Bet on suspicion of having kidnapped three Palestinians at gunpoint after 17-year-old Druze teen Tiran Ferro was kidnapped from a hospital by Palestinians in November 2022.
Ferro was critically injured in a car crash and was stable on a ventilator when he was taken from the hospital in Jenin. Being disconnected from life support ultimately killed him.
According to the Shin Bet Spokesperson, the five suspects kidnapped the three Palestinian workers from Jenin at gunpoint from the compound where they were temporarily housed in Yarka on November 24, 2022.
They then took the Palestinians to an isolated location and forced them to call their family members to inform them of the kidnapping. They attacked and severely injured them before releasing them alive.
The Shin Bet confirmed the suspects' motives
The Shin Bet's investigation also revealed that the suspects planned the kidnapping after seeing posts on social media about the abduction of Ferro, equipping themselves with weapons and face masks. They then went out looking for potential victims.
The arrest was extended until Thursday, at which point the Haifa prosecutor's office filed indictments in the district court against all five suspects.
Druze spiritual leader condemns incident
"I denounce any sort of violence," Tarif said when the abduction of Palestinian workers happened in November. "There is no justification or legitimacy to any illegal action against another person or their belongings. This isn't the way or spirit of the IDF soldiers at all and specifically Druze soldiers."
He added that "before any judgments are made on any soldier, we must wait for the conclusion of the investigation, and I trust the investigative people and the commanders in the IDF."