Arab youth throws firebomb (file)
Arab youth throws firebomb (file)Israel news photo: Flash 90

Arabs threw a fire bomb (“Molotov cocktail”) Tuesday at the porch of an apartment in a building that houses Jewish families in the Abu Tor neighborhood of southern Jerusalem. The bomb did not ignite and no one was hurt.

A woman who lives next to the building told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language service that the firebomb was thrown from a nearby Arab building. This structure was built illegally but nothing has been done to demolish it, she said.

The neighbor said the phenomenon is not new. “About a month and a half ago, three firebombs were thrown into the building's yard. The bottles ignited and burned a very tall cypress tree. Another firebomb that did not ignite was thrown subsequently and this is the third time in a month and a half.”

"My husband called the police but instead of arriving immediately they started to question him and inquire about all sorts of irrelevant things,” she said.

"This week,” she went on, “Major General Franco, the District Commander, visited here, and my husband told me that he intends to sleep in his wooden sukkah during the Sukkot holiday. Major General Franco promised to secure the place and make it possible to sleep in the sukkahs.” 

Part of Abu Tor was liberated in the 1967 Six Day War, and is inhabited by Arabs. The other part was liberated in 1948, and is inhabited by Jews. The neighborhood was quiet until the general deterioration in security in Israel which has taken place in the past two decades.