3 Held in Jerusalem Attack That Killed 1 Palestinian

Police said today that they are holding three Jewish men in connection with a submachine-gun attack in which one Palestinian was killed and three others were wounded.

The announcement came shortly after police fired rubber bullets at stone throwers, wounding one in the leg, during an hourlong funeral march for the slain Palestinian.

The three detainees “are suspected of being linked to what happened yesterday” but are not suspected of the actual shooting, Jerusalem police spokesman Uzi Sanduri said.

He declined to identify the men beyond saying two were from Jerusalem and one lived elsewhere in Israel. The suspects were detained Monday night and were still in custody, Sanduri said.

Mourners decried Israel during the funeral procession through the Temple Mount compound, some shouting, “We warn the Jews: Mohammed’s army will return!”

Police opened fire after one youth smashed a window with his fist and others broke two windows with rocks.

About 1,000 relatives and friends took part in the funeral march for Khaled Shawish, the 26-year-old blacksmith killed Monday when an attacker, dressed in army fatigues and believed to be an Israeli, opened fire with a Uzi submachine gun.

The gunman, who escaped on foot, also wounded three other Palestinians in the attack outside the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old Walled City of Jerusalem.

A caller claiming to represent a Jewish extremist group claimed responsibility for the shootings.

Earlier today, several dozen masked Palestinian youths gathered at Shawish’s Old City home, waving Palestinian flags and vowing revenge against Jews. Police watched from nearby rooftops.

One youth, masked with a kaffiyeh and hoisted on the shoulders of another, shouted: “We should teach the Jews a lesson! Everything Jewish in this town should be burned! We should prove that this is Palestinian and teach them a lesson of what a Palestinian state means.”

Other youths shouted, “Revolution against the occupier!” and “We want a Palestinian state!”