JERUSALEM (JTA) — Three Jews suspected of involvement in an arson attack that killed three members of a West Bank Palestinian family can be prevented from meeting with their attorneys, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled.
Salim Joubran, an Arab-Israeli justice, wrote in the decision Sunday that a meeting could disrupt the investigation of the July 31 firebombing in the village of Duma that killed an 18-month-old boy and his parents, and seriously burnt their 4-year-old son. Attorneys for the detainees had argued that their clients were not a risk to the public or a “ticking bomb.”
The case is under a gag order.
The suspects, two of them minors, reportedly were arrested by the Shin Bet security service over the last month. Involving their attorneys would harm the investigation, the Shin Bet claims, and could prevent the arrest of additional suspects.
Days after the attack, Israel’s Security Cabinet authorized the Shin Bet to use “all means at their disposal” to find the perpetrators of the firebombing.
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