East Jerusalem Suspects to Be Indicted Over Wedding Shooting in Bethlehem

Two East Jerusalem residents in their 20s are expected to be charged with attempted murder over a shooting at a wedding in Bethlehem that left five people wounded, including one seriously. The incident, dubbed the “Red Wedding,” took place on May 9, and the indictment is due Friday after prosecutors recently filed a notice of intent to charge them.

According to the investigation, the suspects arrived in a Mazda near the celebration hall armed with pistols and wearing face coverings. They watched the guests for hours, then opened fire when their targets, relatives involved in a long-running family feud, stepped outside the venue and aimed at their upper bodies. The attackers fled immediately after the shooting.

Police from the Etzion station, forensic teams and IDF forces were dispatched to the scene. The case was transferred to the Judea District’s “Hatz Yehuda” unit, under the direction of Judea area commander Cmdr. Eliyahu Ziton, who identified it as severe violence linked to a blood feud between Arab-Israeli families from East Jerusalem. The two main suspects were arrested on May 18 with help from police and Border Police units.

Investigators say the pair kept driving after the attack and fired at a car that tried to block their escape. They then reached the nearby Wadi Fukin area near Beitar Illit, abandoned the Mazda in a wooded area, hid the pistols near an olive tree, and went to one suspect’s workplace. There they changed out of their clothes, washed them to destroy evidence, and threw them away in a garbage bag. Police also say the two turned off their mobile phones a day before the shooting and kept them off until after they had gone to a restaurant in Rishon Lezion, where they took a selfie in an attempt to create a false alibi.