A Palestinian farmer was killed and two Israeli fathers were wounded, during a rock attack against a group of Israeli boys who were on a field trip in the Samaria region of the West Bank.
The fathers, who were armed with guns and acted as security guards for the trip, were taken by ambulance to Beillinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah.
Palestinian sources identified the farmer, as Mahmoud Udah, 48, from the village of Qusra, near Nablus.
The IDF said, “A short time ago, twenty Israeli [boys] accompanied by an adult, were hiking near the village of Qusra.
“During the trip, a disturbance broke out near the village involving dozens of Palestinians, during which one of the hikers shot at the rioters in self-defense.
“The hikers barricaded themselves in a cave near the village. IDF forces arrived at the site and rescued all the hikers,” the IDF said.
“One of the rioters was hit by gunfire.” the IDF said, adding that it gave him medical treatment at the scene, but the man died from his wounds.
According to the Samaria Regional Council, which interviewed both the fathers and also arrived at the scene, there were some 25 boys on a hike to celebrate a Bar-Mitzvah. Two fathers, armed with guns, accompanied them to act as security guards.
Dozens of Palestinian men surrounded them as they walked in the area of the Qusra village, not far from Nablus and Route 5.
Over 30 Palestinians hurled rocks and boulders at them, said one of the fathers, who described how they helped the boys take shelter in a nearby cave.
“We went to the bar mitzvah of one of the children in the class, and a lot of Arabs ambushed us and threw stones, and our guide told us to run quickly into the cave that we were in,” said 13-year-old Yitzhar Perlman, who took part in a bar mitzvah trip. “They took the guide’s firearm, took our phones and belongings at gunpoint, hit the instructor in the head and sprayed pepper spray. It took an hour and a half for the police to arrive, and when they arrived they did not catch the person who took the weapon. He escaped.”
One of the fathers helped the boys take shelter in the cave while the other father stood outside the cave and shot in the air, but failed to disperse the Palestinians.
At one point, the Palestinians stole one of the pistols, according to one of the fathers. There were two Palestinians that tried to defend the boys, but others tried to enter the cave, the fathers described in audio interviews.
“We were in danger for our lives,” one of the fathers said. The IDF arrived at the scene and dispersed the Palestinians.
A video posted on WhatsApp showed the soldiers standing between the boys in the cave and a group of Palestinian men.
Rabbis for Human Rights published details of the incident as told to them by Qusra residents.
Its spokesman said that Udah was shot while working his land outside of Qusra, along with his six-year-old son and that no-one else was present at the time of the incident.
His son called village residents for help from his father’s cell phone, because his father was already unconscious, the spokesman said.
Palestinians arrived at the site and began throwing stones only after the shooting, the spokesman said.
The group called on the IDF to fully investigate the incident.
“We strongly oppose violence, especially against civilians,” Rabbis for Human Rights said
Article source: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IDF-tanks-fire-on-Gaza-after-mortar-attack-515680
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