Palestinian gang arrested for throwing stones in East Jerusalem

A band of seven Palestinians, three of whom minors, were arrested last week for throwing stones and fire bombs in East Jerusalem, an Israeli police spokesman said Tuesday. The gang were led by a 17-year-old and were suspected of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at police officers as well as civilians in the Arab neighborhood of A-Tur. "These arrests are part of a longer operation to stop rock- throwing," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Xinhua, "Given the number of times the gang has done this, they will be taken in front of the court and tried accordingly." The group is not affiliated with any political organization, The Ha'aretz daily reported. In September, a father and his infant son died after a stone hit their car when they were travelling along Route 60, a main north-south West Bank artery that passes by dozens of Israeli and Palestinian towns and villages. Two Palestinians were arrested last month, suspected having thrown the rock that caused the car crash. In October, some Palestinian youths threw rocks at 11 border police officers, lightly wounding them in another East Jerusalem neighborhood. The city's light-rail train was also attacked with stones that damaged the windows of a wagon, but no injuries were reported. However, police do not believe there is a hike in Arab stoning this year. "The rock throwing incidents have not increased compared to last year. We don't see much difference," Rosenfeld said.