Upwards of 60 individuals were detained, in the village of Awarta on Tuesday, and were forced to give samples of their DNA. The incident follows the murder of 5 members of a family of settlers, in Itamar, near to the village.The deputy mayor of the town, and two of his brothers were amongst those detained, during which the samples were taken, and interrogated. Some residents of the village have been released, but some remain in detention.
These events follow two periods of curfew imposed during the weeks after the murders, the first of which lasted 5 days. 40 residents have already been detained in the course of the Israeli military’s investigation prior to Tuesday.
Currently the State of Israel is imposing a gag order on the Israeli press, not allowing any information to be published other than that which is covered in the international press. Israel has yet to provide any evidence of Palestinian involvement, despite members of the Knesset denouncing the murders as an act of Palestinian terror.
News reports broke two weeks ago, that the murdered family had owed immigrant workers from Thailand the sum of NIS 10,000, and that, allegedly, the workers had threatened to kill the family if they did pay the debt.
