June 17, 2012


HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Settlers deliberately crashed several cars into a crowd of Palestinian mourners in Hebron on Saturday evening, witnesses said.

Several people sustained bruises when settler cars collided into mourners in the al-Ras area of Hebron, a Ma'an correspondent said.

People had gathered for the funeral of three people killed earlier in a car accident in Wadi al-Houz, east of Hebron.

"While we were escorting three members of the family who were killed in a traffic accident, three settler vehicles traveling on the main road deliberately crashed into the crowd injuring a number of mourners," Fawwaz Rajabi, a family member at the funeral, said.

Mourners tried to stop the settlers but Israeli soldiers deployed in the area, preventing people from taking part in the funeral procession, Rajabi added.

Shaab Omran Al-Rajbi 26, his brother Saadi, 30, Hamza Saleem Al-Rajbi, 33, and Safwat Ratih Al-Ajlouni, 23 were killed on Saturday when the car they were traveling in flipped over.

A civil defense statement said Israeli army and police forces attended the scene, which lies in an area of the West Bank under Israeli military control.

Around 800 Jewish settlers live in Hebron's Old City, among 30,000 Palestinians in the parts of the city that are under Israeli control.

Source