Youth describes the lynch
Youth describes the lynchYoni Kempinski

More than two dozen Jewish school children hiking in Samaria Thursday and assaulted in a lynch attempt by local Arabs were forced to hide in a cave, as the mob surrounded the entrance to the cave, spraying pepper spray and hurling rocks at the group of terrified hikers.

After an hour and a half, IDF units in Samaria rescued the group. Three of the hikers suffered injuries as a result of the stones thrown and pepper spray they inhaled while hiding in the cave.

One of the youths present during in Samaria Thursday recalled the events in an interview with Arutz Sheva.

“We left Migdalim and as we were walking along the face of a cliff, they began to throw rocks at us,” he said.

“We ran into a nearby cave so they wouldn’t hit us. We were there for a while - and then Arabs came from all directions and surrounded [the entrance to the cave].”

While the hikers were holed up in the cave, the Arab attackers tried to force them out, flooding the entrance with pepper spray and tear gas, and hurling rocks and other objects in the hopes of hitting the children.

“They hurled rocks at us, sticks, sprayed pepper spray,” he said.

A small group of local Arabs intervened, and tried to distance the mob from the terrified school children.

“They [the rioters] hit children [with stones] and punched us. The [Arabs shielding the group] successfully kept a rioter at bay who wanted to throw rocks at us until the army arrived and got us out of there.”

Earlier, it was reported that a group of children from Samaria, who left Thursday for a planned trip approved by the IDF near the Samaria town of Migdalim, was attacked by an Arab lynch mob.

Medics treated three Jews who were lightly injured in the attack. They have been evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah.

Some 25 children and two adult escorts departed on the trip, which took place a significant distance from Arab villages.

At a certain stage dozens of Arab rioters began to attack the participants in a planned ambush. The rioters threw stones and rocks at the children and the youths, and the group was forced to take refuge along the steep cliffs nearby, thus facing danger to their lives both from the rocks thrown at them and the dangerous terrain.

Miraculously, the group found a cave in the area, where it hid until the arrival of the army. During the stay of the young men in the cave, the rioters attempted to enter the cave and lynch the hikers.

A military source said the boys were on a private bar mitzvah trip and were hiking from Migdalim toward Kida. Dozens of rioters then arrived in vehicles, attacked the boys and lightly injured three of them. A parent of one of the youths who was escorting the group was forced to open fire on the attackers.

Two of the rioters were hit by gunfire, and despite attempts by IDF medics at the scene to resuscitate him, one was declared dead at the scene.