A 16-year-old Israeli settler was arrested on suspicion of throwing a rock that killed a Palestinian mother last October was charged with manslaughter as an act of terror, on Thursday, after his DNA was found on the thrown rock.

The 16-year-old from the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, near the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus, was charged with throwing a rock at a Palestinian vehicle “under aggravated circumstances as an act of terror and intentional vandalism of a vehicle as an act of terror.”

Aisha Muhammad Talal al-Rabi, 47, a mother of eight children, from the Bidya village near Salfit in the northern occupied West Bank, was killed and her husband was injured, after Israeli settlers hurled rocks at their vehicle near the Zaatara checkpoint in Nablus in the northern West Bank.

According to the indictment, the Israeli settler threw a rock weighing near 2 kg at Aisha’s vehicle, which had a Palestinian license plate, “out of an ideological motive of racism and hostility towards all Arabs.”
The indictment stated, “The defendant hurled the rock “with great force toward the front windshield of the vehicle with the objective of hurting the passengers and with indifference to the possibility of causing their death.”

The 16-year-old provided a version of events that could explain why his DNA was found on the rock that hit the vehicle, nevertheless Israeli police representatives said they did not rule out his involvement in the crime.

On December 30th, Israeli authorities arrested five Israeli settlers, who were held on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Aisha, however, released four of five Israeli settlers to house arrest ten days ago, while the main suspect remained in custody.

Palestinian towns and villages in the Nablus area are surrounded by Israeli settlements and outposts, many of which are protected by the Israeli military and have gained notoriety for being comprised of the most extremist settlers.

However, the Palestinian government has no jurisdiction over Israelis in the West Bank, and violent acts carried out by Israeli settlers often occur in the presence of Israeli military forces who rarely act to protect Palestinian residents.