LONDON: An Israeli court on Monday ordered a West Bank settlement security chief to be released under house arrest after he was charged with shooting and seriously wounding a Palestinian woman at an unauthorized roadblock last month.
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ordered that Pinhas Shem Tov Ran, 37, the civilian security coordinator for the Gidonim Ridge settlement bloc in the northern West Bank, be confined at an address in the Golan Heights, Israeli media reported.
It rejected a request by prosecutors that he remain in custody during the court proceedings, citing conflicting accounts of the shooting and a lack of video footage to corroborate either version of events.
Ran was charged on Friday with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm and obstructing justice in connection with the Sept. 18 shooting in Aqraba, a Palestinian village near Nablus.
According to the reports of the indictment, Ran entered the village as he traveled from his home in the illegal Givot Olam outpost to a nearby settlement, and began stopping people and demanding to check their ID without authorization.
Prosecutors said Aqraba was operating outside his assigned area, and military officials had repeatedly reprimanded him following several “unusual incidents,” instructing him to remain within his jurisdiction and follow rules of engagement.
A Palestinian driver refused to comply with Ran’s demand for identification and drove away, according to the indictment. The driver feared an attack because the armed group of men that Ran was part of did not appear to be soldiers and one was wearing a face covering, prosecutors added.
Ran fired at least three shots at the car, seriously wounding a female passenger, the indictment continues. She underwent surgery to remove bullets and spent several days in the hospital. One of the bullets had lodged in her lung near her heart, prosecutors said.
Police and the officials from the Shin Bet security agency arrested Ran at his home Oct. 11. The grievous bodily harm charge carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.