Three Israelis wounded in West Bank

An Israeli construction worker and a border policeman were lightly wounded by stones thrown at them by Palestinians.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
hamas stonethrow298 88ap (photo credit: AP)
hamas stonethrow298 88ap
(photo credit: AP)
An Israeli construction worker and a border policeman were lightly wounded by stones thrown at security forces safeguarding workers building a road for the sole use of Palestinian motorists near Khirbat al Matsbah, southwest of Ramallah, on Wednesday. The road that starts in Bidu will eventually link villages in the area to Ramallah, thereby offering Palestinians a speedier access route to the city, the army said. The incident occurred during violent clashes that erupted at the site where scores of Palestinians threw stones and a number of firebombs at construction workers and soldiers and Border Police safeguarding them. Two IDF bulldozers were damaged in the clashes. The violence forced work to be temporarily halted at the site, and security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas in an effort to disperse the mob. In the past week, seven members of the security forces and an Israeli civilian have been wounded in clashes near the village. An Israeli motorist was lightly wounded by stones thrown at her car near Hussan, west of Bethlehem, and was treated at the site by medics. Elsewhere in the West Bank, Border Police operating in Idna, west of Hebron, arrested a Palestinian after finding a hand gun, ammunition and a wireless set in his home. Reservists operating near Metsudat Yehuda in the southern Hebron Hills arrested a Palestinian who had four full M16 ammunition clips and a hunting rifle in his possession. Before dawn, security forces arrested 11 Palestinian fugitives affiliated with Islamic Jihad and the Fatah Tanzim in Hebron, in a village northwest of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho. The army later identified the fugitive arrested in Jericho as Khaled Abu Diah, the head of Islamic Jihad in the city. Meanwhile, Palestinians in northern Gaza fired a Kassam rocket at Israel early Wednesday. The army said that while they identified the site where the rocket was fired from, they have not been able to locate where the rocket fell. Three Kassam rockets were fired at the western Negev on Wednesday night. One landed in an open area, the army said. Also in the morning, security forces arrested an unarmed Palestinian attempting to cross into Israel near the central Gaza security fence.