Palestinian Authority men attacked soldiers near Hevron on Saturday during the funeral of a young PA man who had been killed the day before while attacking Jewish hikers. The attackers targeted soldiers with large rocks and a firebomb.
The soldiers were not hurt. They responded with tear gas, dispersing the attackers.
The funeral was for 17-year-old Yusef Iklayl, who was killed in a shootout Friday. The shootout between PA Arabs and Jewish security guards began when a group of Arab men as they toured near Hevron.
Police have arrested four of the Israeli men who took part in Friday's hike. The men are being held for questioning in connection with the incident.
The hikers say they were ambushed while walking in a valley near Hevron. Their attackers, a group of PA Arab teenagers and men, threw rocks and bombs and opened fire, they said.
The hikers fled while a handful of armed guards opened fire to cover their retreat.
The PA men later claimed that the group of hikers, which included children and the elderly, had launched an unprovoked attack on an Arab village and had killed Iklayl for no reason. A similar claim was made Thursday regarding the shooting of a PA man in Samaria; police later found that the PA claim was untrue, and that the PA man had been shot .
Despite the findings regarding the Thursday incident, the PA continues to accuse Israel of murder. “The Israeli government cannot evade its responsibility for these cold-blooded crimes,” PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib told reporters.
