JERUSALEM: Israeli police have detained a stone-throwing boy who was struck by a car driven by a settler in a flashpoint east Jerusalem neighborhood earlier this month, police said Sunday.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Imran Mansur, 12, had been brought in on Saturday for questioning about the stone-throwing, adding that he was accompanied by his father at all times and would likely be released "soon."
Mansur, 12, and Iyad Gheit, 10, were wearing masks and throwing stones in the Silwan neighborhood on October 8 when the car driven by David Beeri, a local leader of the hardline Elad settler organization, rounded a corner and struck them.
Mansur was thrown into the air and bounced off the car’s windscreen before crashing to the ground in the incident captured by AFP and other photographers. The car stopped briefly before driving off.
Mansur suffered a broken leg, while Gheit was taken to the hospital to have glass removed from his arm.
Jerusalem police identified the driver as Beeri and said they questioned him and released him on the day of the incident.
Beeri’s Elad organization encourages Jews to move into dense neighborhoods in Arab east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel and annexed in 1967 in a move not recognized by the international community.
Clashes have erupted in Silwan on a number of occasions in recent weeks, with Palestinian youths throwing rocks at settlers and police, who have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.
