Seven teenagers arrested in Modiin after police called over noise were confronted

Seven minors were arrested overnight in the central Israeli city of Modiin after police officers who had gone to a neighbourhood to deal with a noise disturbance were attacked by young people there, according to a police statement carried by the Israeli broadcaster N12. The police said the youths had disturbed public order and that the officers decided to detain them after the confrontation.

The news site Ynet, which published video of the incident, reported that dozens of teenagers had been making noise and that many of them then surrounded the officers and their patrol car, shouting, confronting the police and dancing in front of the vehicle. Ynet said a court had extended the detention of two of those arrested, while the others were released. The Modiin municipality told Ynet that it regards the incident as serious.

How many were accused of assault

The accounts shifted slightly over the course of the day. N12's first version of the police statement said the officers had been attacked by the young people, without giving a number. That initial post was later edited, and the revised wording said the officers were attacked by three of the youths. A Ynet news alert similarly reported that seven boys were arrested over the gathering and the disturbance, and that three of them are suspected of assaulting police officers.

Read together, the reports indicate that all seven were detained in connection with the disturbance, while the assault suspicion concerns a smaller group of three. Neither outlet has said whether the two whose detention was extended are among those three.

The descriptions of the crowd also differ in emphasis. The police statement, as relayed by N12, refers to seven minors who broke public order. Ynet's account describes a much larger gathering of dozens of teenagers, of whom many encircled the patrol car. The seven arrested appear to have been a portion of a bigger group, but no outlet has given a total figure for how many young people were present.

What a detention extension means

In Israel, police who arrest a suspect can ask a court to keep that person in custody while the investigation continues, before any decision on charges is made. A judge who grants the request is said to extend the suspect's detention. Such a ruling is not a finding of guilt; it reflects the court's view that there are grounds to hold the suspect for further questioning or investigation. According to Ynet, a court granted such an extension for two of the young people arrested in Modiin, and the remainder were sent home.

Because the suspects are minors, their names have not been published, and Israeli outlets typically do not identify young suspects in criminal cases.

About Modiin

Modiin, formally Modiin-Maccabim-Reut, is a planned city in central Israel, located roughly between Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv area. It is largely residential and is home to many families with children, which is part of why a late-night confrontation between teenagers and police there drew attention. The city's municipality responded publicly to the incident, telling Ynet it views the event seriously, though it did not, in the reports available, describe any specific steps it plans to take.

Video of the incident

Both Ynet and its alerts channel described the material they published as documentation of the event. Ynet's report characterised the footage as showing a crowd of youths gathered around a police vehicle, with some confronting officers and others dancing and shouting near the car. The police statement relayed by N12 did not refer to the video.

What the reports do not say

• None of the reports describes the officers' injuries, if any, or what form the alleged assault took.
• The police have not said, in the material available, what charges the three assault suspects may face, or whether any charges are planned against the others.
• It is not reported which neighbourhood of Modiin the incident took place in, or what prompted the gathering.
• No response from the suspects, their families or their lawyers has been reported.
• The municipality has not said what, if anything, it intends to do beyond calling the incident serious.