Military judge grants soldier charged in Hebron shooting “open detention”

IDF Lt. Col Judge Ronen Shor ruled Thursday night that the soldier charged in the Hebron shooting of an injured Palestinian terrorist  be released from jail to “open detention” at the Kfir military base, after commenting that the evidence against him was open to interpretation. The prosecution asked for the ruling to be delayed until Friday to allow for an appeal to be filed. The judge agreed.

At the start of the hearing, the military prosecution agreed to reduce the charge against the soldier from murder to manslaughter and asked the court to extend the defendant’s remand for seven days. An autopsy on the body of the dead Palestinian terrorist is scheduled for Sunday to determine whether his death was caused by the soldier’s gunfire, or that died when he was shot earlier by other IDF soldiers when he attacked them with a knife.