Fighting broke out between Israeli and Arab West Bank residents late Saturday night in the Arab village of Burkin, located near Jenin, the IDF told Army Radio, following reports of Jewish rioters setting fire to a house and attacking several Palestinians.
Burkin is where Na’al Samara – the terrorist who murdered Tzeela Gez a week and a half ago while she was on her way to the hospital to give birth – came from. Samara was killed in the village by the IDF a few days after the terror attack.
The IDF denied the reports of arson and said there were no casualties to IDF troops or damage at the scene. Arab media reported that five Palestinians were wounded by stone-throwing.
The military told Army Radio that both Arab and Israeli parties were throwing stones at one another when troops arrived at the scene to disperse the fighting. Mosques in the village reportedly called on residents to confront the Jewish rioters, Army Radio reported, citing Arab media.
Gez's killer, Samara, had previously been imprisoned due to his activities with the Hamas terrorist organization.
Israelis rioted in Burkin last week
The last violent incident in Burkin was last Thursday, when a group of Israelis reportedly threw stones and set fire to five homes and five vehicles on the outskirts of the village, according to the Palestinian Authority-run news agency WAFA.
There were allegedly eight burn victims from the incident, WAFA cited the Palestinian Red Crescent Society as saying. The same day, rioters also damaged a mosque, set fire to a vehicle, and sprayed anti-Arab graffiti in the town of Akraba, southeast of Nablus in the West Bank, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported.