JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian riots continued in Hebron five days after the city’s Cave of the Patriarchs was designated an Israeli national heritage site.
As Palestinian schoolchildren demonstrated Thursday near the site, other Palestinian protesters set tires on fire and threw stones at Israeli soldiers and police.
More than 300 Palestinians in Hebron clashed with Israelis soldiers while commemorating the anniversary of the murder of 29 Muslims by Jewish radical Baruch Goldstein at the cave’s Ibrahimi Mosque in 1994. Goldstein was beaten to death at the scene of the attack, which also injured about 150.
Israeli security forces responded with tear gas and stun grenades Thursday, according to reports.
Israeli Arab politicians who joined in the protest, including Hebron Mayor Khaled Esseleh, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "lighting a fire" by declaring the cave a national heritage site.
Hebron’s Jewish community was set to hold a prayer service at the cave Thursday to mark the Fast of Esther.
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