Palestinian cell behind W. Bank bombing pledges to 'open floodgates of hell' if suspect dies

Arbid hospitalized after 'serious health deterioration due to torture, ill-treatment during interrogation'

The Palestinian terror cell responsible for last month’s deadly West Bank bomb attack warned it would unleash a wave of violence against Israel should the suspect in the bombing succumb to injuries suffered during an interrogation by Israeli security forces.

The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in a statement released on Sunday that they “deem the Israeli occupation regime responsible for the lives of the Palestinian prisoner Samer Arbid and his associates. We vow that by putting their lives in danger, the occupation will open the floodgates of hell.”

The group also urged the Palestinians to perpetrate more attacks “in support of our brave prisoners.” 

Israeli security forces said Saturday evening they had identified and arrested three members of a Palestinian terror cell responsible for the bombing that killed an Israeli teen and seriously injured her brother and father. 

The man authorities believe to be the ringleader responsible for the attack that killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb, Samar Mina Salim Arbid was taken to an Israeli hospital in critical condition following an interrogation by Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency shortly after his arrest, his attorneys said.

Palestinian NGO Addameer, which often represents legal cases of Palestinians accused of terror, said Sunday that Arbid was hospitalized after suffering a "serious health deterioration due to torture and ill-treatment during interrogations. 

Addameer accused Israeli police of harshly beating Arbid during his arrests and said Shin Bet investigators "continued using torture and ill-treatment."

Israeli media cited a source familiar with the matter alleging that Shin Bet officers were authorized to deploy "enhanced" interrogation methods after receiving information that he was in possession of another explosive device.