Settler kills Palestinian stone-thrower
Israeli man fires at Palestinian stone-throwers in Samaria after vehicle comes under attack
Security forces launched an investigation into the incident. The shooter was identified and questioned by officials.
The incident took place on Highway 55 around 8:30 pm. Initially, the shooter informed that IDF that Palestinians hurled stones and rocks at his vehicle. The man said that he fired warning shots in the air and left the scene, but did not report any injuries.
However, an IDF force that arrived at the scene found two Palestinians there, including one in critical condition. The second Palestinian was unhurt. A Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance team was dispatched to the scene and treated the wounded man, but soon after pronounced him dead.
MDA paramedic Ziv Reicht spoke to Ynet about the incident. "We headed to the site in an intensive care ambulance…in an olive grove south of the road we found a young man with a gunshot wound to his head. He was unconscious. We started to treat him and moved him to the road. Yet there was nothing that we could do, and we had to pronounce him dead at the scene."
History of stone-throwing
IDF officials estimate that the shooter fired in the air after he felt threatened by the stone-throwers. The investigation into the incident continues, as large army and police forces were dispatched to the scene.
Palestinian sources said the shot stone-thrower is 15-year-old Nasser al-Arj. Security officials confirmed that the teen was involved in previous stone-throwing incidents. The sources said two more Palestinians were hurt in the incident.
Meanwhile, Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan said that "the terrorist who was killed was already nabbed in the past for terror activity. There is no doubt that the resident who was traveling with his 14-year-old daughter acted in self-defense, and according to all testimonies fired in the air."
Dayan, who traveled on the same road minutes before the incident, told Ynet: "This is an infamous section of the road, which features stone-throwing and the hurling of Molotov cocktails almost daily. Military sources told me that this section of the road has the highest rate of such attacks across Judea and Samaria."
