Jerusalem – Palestinians Attempt To Vandalize Jerusalem Light Rail During Fresh Riots

Jerusalem – Dozens of masked Palestinian rioters clashed with police late Friday night in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat and other eastern areas of the capital.

Riots took place in the capital throughout the day on Friday on the same day when Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16, was laid to rest in the city. The demonstrators believe that Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and killed by far-right Jews. The Israel Police has not revealed the outcome of their investigation into the killing.

Police were trying to apprehend rioters in Shuafat who attempted with a disk-saw to vandalize an electricity pole of Jerusalem’s light rail.

In a different area near the West Bank town of Ma’aleh Adumim at the entrance to the village of Azria, some forty Palestinians threw stones and Molotov cocktails and were rolling burning tires at security forces.

A small riot also took place in the Israeli-Arab town of Taibe where locals burned tires at the entrance to the town. Police arrested three suspects from the town who allegedly threw stones at a passing vehicle on Highway 444.

Stones thrown at Israeli police were met by teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets on Friday in one of the most highly charged displays of enmity in Jerusalem in years.

Palestinian officials trying to calm tensions in recent weeks have said they would prevent any intifada, or uprising, and seek a solution to a crisis that began when three Israeli teens were kidnapped in the West Bank on June 12.

The discovery of their dead bodies on Monday prompted an outpouring of national grief in Israel. Tensions spiked after Abu Khdeir was kidnapped on Wednesday in his Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem and his charred body was found hours later in a forest on the edge of the city.