Suspect taken in for interrogation; several incidents of suspected arson reported across Jerusalem over high holiday

Illustrative photo of IDF soldiers at a military post  Beit Jala, outside Jerusalem. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Illustrative photo of IDF soldiers at a military post Beit Jala, outside Jerusalem. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

 

Israel Defense Forces troops manning a post in the Jordan Valley arrested a Palestinian man who approached their position carrying an explosive device, the military said Wednesday.

The incident occurred hours after the Yom Kippur holiday ended. The suspect was taken in for interrogation, the army said.

Earlier, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the West Bank settlement of Psagot, near Ramallah. Palestinians were suspected of throwing the firebombs at the fence of the Jewish settlement, Israel Radio reported. The explosives didn’t catch fire and no injuries were reported.

Rocks were also thrown at the light rail by residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat. Damage was caused to the train, but no injuries were reported. Police were searching for suspects.

Several fires were also reported in Jerusalem during Yom Kippur, which ended Wednesday at sundown. According to Ynet, several of the incidents were suspected of being arson.

Fire caused damage to the balcony and garden of a home in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Tor overnight on Wednesday. An investigation by the fire department found that it was caused by a Molotov cocktail thrown at the adjacent building.

A brush fire also broke out near Moshe Dayan Boulevard in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev. The fire was suspected to have been deliberately started.

Another brush fire started near Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo, south of the city, and was also suspected of being arson. And there was a fire started on Kassuto Street, in Bayit Vagan, down the road from a synagogue, Ynet reported.

No injuries were reported in the incidents.

As reported by The Times of Israel