The Israeli reservist accused of shooting and killing a Jewish national hero who intervened in a deadly terror attack in Jerusalem last week is being investigated and has had his weapon confiscated, officials said.
Israeli civilian Yuval Doron Castleman, 37, is believed to have been shot dead by Israel Defense Forces reservists shortly after Castleman opened fire and successfully intervened in a terrorist attack at a bus stop Thursday morning, Israeli police said.
Before Castleman intervened at the bus stop, two Hamas gunmen – identified by the Shin Bet agency as brothers Murad Nemer, 38, and Ibrahim Nemer, 30 – had killed three Israeli civilians, including a 24-year-old pregnant woman and a rabbi judge.
Castleman saw the gunman at the bus stop and stopped to help the victim on his way to work.
He immediately threw down his weapon, put his hands in the air and shouted in Hebrew, “Don’t shoot!” when IDF soldiers arrived at the scene, the security footage was uncovered.
But one of the off-duty reservists – a member of a violent gang of radical Jewish teenagers known to attack Palestinians in the area – is accused of shooting him.
Israeli hero Yuval Doron Castleman, 37, was shot and killed Thursday. X/StandWithUs
Castleman died just before midnight, moments before his 38th birthday.
“Findings of the investigation so far show that during the attack, one of the IDF soldiers identified and mistakenly suspected the late Yuval [Doron Castleman]who acted bravely and courageously to neutralize the terrorist, became the third terrorist,” police said of the incident after Castleman’s death.
On Sunday, the IDF confirmed that the suspect in the Castleman shooting – identified by Israel’s Channel 14 TV as reservist Aviad Frija, according to ABC News – is being investigated.
“The IDF expresses its grief over the death of the late Yuval Doron Castleman who acted bravely and heroically and engaged and eliminated terrorists in the attack in Jerusalem,” the army said, according to the Times of Israel.
“A soldier in the reserve service who is suspected of firing the shots that caused the death of the late Yuval underwent preliminary interrogation on the day of the incident. The soldier did not enter [his] unit over the weekend and arrived today for careful questioning by the Military Police Investigation Unit,” the IDF said.
Medical personnel remove victims from the area of a shooting attack in Jerusalem on Thursday. ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A second soldier involved in the incident is also being questioned, the IDF said.
“The soldiers’ weapons have been recovered and are being transferred for inspection,” the team added.
Castleman of Jerusalem used his own weapon to fight the two terrorists, his father said, according to ABC News.
Frija, for his part, told Channel 14 TV that he was active in the so-called “hilltop youth,” or squadrons of radical Jewish youth squatting on hilltops in the occupied West Bank.
Ragtag groups have been known to attack Palestinians in the area, ABC News said.
Friends and family are mourning rabbi judge Elimelech Wasserman, who was killed in Thursday’s attack. Reuters
The “hilltop youth” are also politically aligned with Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir – a right-wing, bombastic and controversial figure who used Thursday’s incident to argue for his efforts to increase the number of Israeli civilians carrying weapons, the outlet reported.
When asked about Saturday’s shooting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also appeared to dismiss concerns about Castleman’s murder.
“The presence of armed civilians many times saved the day and prevented a bigger disaster,” he told reporters. “Maybe we will pay the price for it. That is life.”
Israeli rescue teams inspect the scene. AFP via Getty Images
Netanyahu’s political rival, Benny Gantz, criticized the prime minister’s views on social media.
“That’s not ‘life’, but a warning sign,” Gantz – who served as Israel’s replacement prime minister for a short period in 2020 to 2021 – write on X.
Castleman’s family is demanding answers for his death, which they refer to as “murder,” the Times of Israel reported.
“No one has spoken to us officially yet. We want to know exactly what happened. In the footage, you can see that he charged the terrorists and neutralized them, and suddenly they shot him,” his father, Moshe, told Channel 13, the outlet said.
Three people were killed by two Hamas gunmen at a bus stop at the entrance to Jerusalem on Thursday morning. AFP via Getty Images
“They didn’t read the situation correctly,” he said of the Israeli soldiers. “Right now, I can’t judge: What would I do in that situation? But I want them to investigate this matter thoroughly and draw conclusions from the incident.”
On Sunday, Netanyahu appeared to have revised his stance on Castleman’s murder, he said in a new statement that the 37-year-old man is an “Israeli hero.
“Yuval saved many lives in an act of supreme heroism, but unfortunately a terrible tragedy happened there – the man who saved them himself was killed. This matter must be thoroughly investigated,” Netanyahu wrote.
“Today I spoke with Moshe, Yuval’s father. Salt of the earth, Zionist family, extraordinary family. I and the whole country mourn with them for the death of an Israeli hero,” he said.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
