Be'er Sheva Magistrates Court on Sunday ordered that a Negev farmer suspected of murdering a rustler be released to house arrest with certain restrictions.

Dromi is suspected of killing Khaled al-Atrash, 31, as he was apparently trying to break into his ranch with Ayoub al-Hawashleh, who is now in intensive care.

Al-Hawashleh told Haaretz last week that he had been shot three times in the back.

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Police had asked for Dromi's remand to be extended by another three days, and are expected to appeal against the decision to send him home. Dromi will remain in custody for another day until the police appeal is heard.

Police say that Dromi did not have a license for the rifle used in the shooting. He will also be charged with an illegal possession of firearms and of shooting in a residential area.

Dromi said last week that he regrets the loss of life, and that he did not intend his actions to end in death.

But police said they are not convinced by Dromi's story, and suspect he perpetrated the death intentionally.

The police representative said that the investigation conducted so far reveals that Dromi's claim to self-defense is unreliable.

The suspect's brother, Amir Dromi, said "this incident was foreseeable under the reality in which we live, of thefts on the one hand and lawlessness and the absence of law-enforcement on the other."

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