Palestinian shot dead climbing W. Bank security barrier

Security forces open fire after man reportedly attempts to grab policeman's weapon; 15 men caught trying to climb over barrier.

By BY JPOST.COM STAFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seperation barrier Jerusalem (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Seperation barrier Jerusalem
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Police shot and killed a Palestinian climbing over the West Bank security barrier near Kfar Issawiya in east Jerusalem early Sunday morning.
Police spotted 15 men climbing over the fence along the old road from French Hill to Ma'ale Adumim.
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One Palestinian, a 37-year-old Hebron resident, was shot after he reportedly attempted to grab a border policeman's weapon.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man was among a group of illegal workers who had sneaked over Israel's West Bank separation barrier to enter Jerusalem.
Rosenfeld said the men ignored police orders to stop and fled, but an officer caught up with the Palestinian man.
Rosenfeld explained that the man was shot after trying to grab the officer's gun. He said it wasn't clear whether the officer fired or his gun discharged accidentally.
The B'tselem human rights group, which sent a field representative to the scene, quotes a witness as saying there was no scuffle.
The shooting came almost two weeks after riots erupted in Silwan after a 35-year-old east Jerusalem resident was killed.
Throughout the day, violence spread from Silwan to the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives, as angry rioters threw thousands of stones at police forces.
Ten people were injured, including a 35-year-old Israeli in moderate condition who was stabbed in the back near the Mount of Olives. Police reported that attendees threw stones at officers, vehicles and buses causing injuries and damage, and that a police vehicle and several other vehicles were set alight near Jerusalem's Old City.
Three Egged buses were destroyed by stoning near the Western Wall, injuring one of the bus drivers. The buses were missing all of their windows and one had blood splattered on the driver’s seat.
Eight people were arrested for disturbing the peace, five at the Temple Mount and three on Derech HaOfer, the road that leads from the Mount of Olives cemetery towards the Old City and back to Silwan.
Melanie Lidman contributed to this report