Israeli security forces said on Sunday that eight Arab suspects have been arrested for the killing of a Jewish man in central Israel in May amid a wave of ethnic violence.
Israel's police and Shin Bet security service said in a joint statement that six of the suspects are Palestinian citizens of Israel and the other two are Palestinian residents of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
They have been arrested on suspicion of throwing rocks at the car of Yigal Yehoshua, 57, in Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish city east of Tel Aviv, on May 11. Yehoshua died of his wounds in hospital on May 17, and his kidney was donated to an Arab woman.
The Israeli prosecution plans to indict seven of the suspects with the charge of terrorist murder, according to a statement of the State Attorney's office. The other suspect is expected to be charged with attempting to destroy evidence.
The killing was carried out amid a spate of violence sparked by clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in East Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. The clashes later led to the May 10-21 conflict between Israeli forces and the Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, which has left over 250 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead.
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