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Israel indicts seven men for murder of Jewish Lod resident during May riots

Five of those charged with killing 56-year-old Yigal Yehoshua are Arab Israelis; the other two are Palestinians.

Lod Riots, 2021
The remains of a car set on fire during Arab riots in the central Israeli city of Lod on May 11, 2021. Photo by Yossi Aloni/Flash90.

Israel’s Central District State Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday that it had issued criminal indictments for seven suspects arrested on Sunday for the murder last month of Lod resident Yigal Yehoshua.

Yehoshua, 56, died after being stoned while sitting in his car on May 11, as riots rocked the mixed Arab-Jewish city during Israel’s “Operation Guardian of the Walls” against Hamas in Gaza. He died six days later.

The suspects—Yosef Kadaim, 21; Walid Kadaim, 25; Karim Bahlul, 18; Iyad Marhala, 20; Khaled Hasouna, 51; Ahmad Danon, 25; And Kamel Allah, 21—were charged with aggravated murder in a concerted act of terrorism, terrorism by means of stoning a vehicle, racially motivated sabotage of a vehicle and obstruction of justice.

Five of those indicted are Arab Israelis. The other two are Palestinians who were illegally staying in Israel at the time of the incident.

“Gratitude is one of Judaism’s foundational values, and very much belongs on Rosh Hashanah,” Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, told JNS. “We will never forget the nearly 3,000 victims of this terror attack, many of whom were members of the Jewish community.”
The cohort includes 392 new immigrants—246 men and 146 women.
The fatalities were identified as Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock, 34, from Nokdim, and Chief Master Sgt. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, 33, from Eilat.
The announcement comes as Israeli banks are expected to end correspondent banking services to Palestinian counterparts.