Arab Riots Prompt Israeli West Bank Security Reinforcement
by Joshua Levitt
Israel reinforced security in the West Bank on Monday as angry Arab youths left the funeral of three Palestinians killed last night after a mob attacked Israeli officers who were conducting a raid to capture a terror suspect, in the Qalandiya camp, north of Jerusalem, Israel’s Channel 10 reported.
Channel 10 cited Palestinian television as saying that after the funeral in Qalandiya, young people began to march from the camp towards an IDF checkpoint nearby. Dozens of rioters pelted IDF forces with Molotov cocktails and stones, and Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas in a effort to contain the protest.
Border Police spokesman Shai Hakimi said that during the raid yesterday, “over 1,500 Palestinians poured into the streets and attacked” the Israeli officers “with firebombs and rocks,” the Times of Israel reported.
Three Arabs were killed in the incident, according to Palestinian media reports, Rubin Zayed, 34, Younis Jahjouh, 22 and Jihad Aslan, 27, and Israeli media reported that approximately 10 others were injured.
Video footage released earlier today shows Israeli security forces in Qalandiya trapped in their jeep, and pelted with stones, bricks and building materials hurled from rooftops by Arab youth.