Israel orders release of deadly arson attack suspect

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli court on Thursday ordered the release of an Israeli youth indicted for involvement in a 2015 arson attack that left three West Bank Palestinians -- including an 18-month-old baby -- dead.

“The Lod District Court ordered police to release an Israeli who was 17 years old at the time of the attack and who has remained under arrest for more than two years,” Israeli daily Yeditoth Ahronoth reported.

“The indicted [individual] will be released [from police custody] and placed under full house arrest,” the paper added.

The defendant faces charges of conspiring to commit murder, along with a string of other unrelated charges.

In July of 2015, Israeli settlers torched the Dawabsheh family’s West Bank home in an attack that claimed the lives of Saad and Riham Dawabsheh and their 18-month-old child.

Their eldest son, Ahmed, 6, survived the attack, but suffered severe burns that have severely affected his mobility.

The incident sparked international outrage at the time, with the Dawabsheh family accusing Israel of dragging its feet in prosecuting the suspects despite admissions by Israeli officials that they knew who was responsible.