A clash between two family clans (hamulot) in the northeast Jerusalem
neighborhood of Beit Hanina left one man dead and led to a massive fire that
burned six apartments on Tuesday.
After the fighting broke out early
Tuesday morning, a 22-year-old man was stabbed and evacuated to Hadassah
University Medical Center on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus in critical
condition.
He later died in the operating room.
The warring Arab
families threw rocks at police officers who tried to respond at the scene,
though they did not injure anyone else, according to Jerusalem police spokesman
Shmuel Ben-Ruby. Police arrested 14 people who were involved in the fight over
the course of the day, and found an ax and two knives after searching a house
and two cars belonging to the families.
Around 8:15 a.m., firefighters
tried to respond to two large fires in Beit Hanina, which police believe were
connected to the predawn fight, as one of the apartments affected belonged to
the suspect in the stabbing.
However, due to rock throwing and rioting
against the police, the firefighters were forced to wait outside the
neighborhood until police secured the area.
Jerusalem Fire and Rescue
Services spokesman Asaf Abras said heavy smoke was visible from Highway 443.
Police and Border Police used force to disperse the families fighting against
each other and security forces. After an hour, police escorted the firefighters
to the site of the fires. Six apartments in two separate buildings, a car and a
caravan were consumed by fire when they arrived.
Abras said the arson
attacks were most likely planned in advance, as the arsonists hid gas canisters
around the building in order to inflict maximum damage as well as injure
firefighters.
Firefighters were able to gain control the blaze within an
hour.