IDF soldiers shot one Arab dead Sunday and seriously wounded two others in the course of a riot at Na'alin, in the Binyamin area of Samaria. The Arabs had been hurling rocks at the IDF force and the soldiers said that they decided to fire live ammunition when they were in a life-threatening situation.
The spot is the site of daily riots, which usually focus on the separation barrier that is being built there. This time, however, the rioters claimed to be protesting against IDF operation "Cast Lead" which began in Gaza Saturday.
The dead rioter, Arafat Hawaja, 22, died of a bullet wound to the chest, according to an Arab medical source.
Riots in the Galilee
In the Galilee, hundreds of Arabs rioted at the Deir El Assad junction Sunday and threw rocks at police forces, who used a water cannon and other means for dispersing the crowd. Police closed off the roads leading to Gilon Junction from the west and to Carmiel Junction from the east.
Arabs also crowded at the entrance to the Muslim village of Daburiyeh in the Galillee and burned tires. Police arrived at the scene.
Omedia
An Arab news website, Al Arab, featured uncensored pictures of dead victims of the IAF attack Sunday and called the attack a massacre.
A riot by hundreds of Arabs was also reported at the Umm al-Fahm junction Sunday evening. Police were using tear gas and stun grenades to repel the rioters who attacked them with rocks. Umm al-Fahm mayor Khaled Hamdan and the city's deputy mayor tried to calm tensions among the rioters at the entrance to the city.
12 Arabs rioters were arrested near Kafr Kana in the Galilee. They had been throwing rocks. Some had hoods over their faces.
