BICOM

Police concluded yesterday that Asher Palmer and his 1-year-old son, Yehonatan, residents of the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, were killed in a car crash on Friday after stones were hurled at their car. Shortly after the incident, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Office issued a statement in which it declared the Palmers’ death to be the result of an accident and not a terror attack. However, an examination of the father’s body revealed fractures to his skull and a large bloodstained stone in the car. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Sunday that “based on the findings of the external autopsy, the main direction of the investigation is that he [Palmer] was hit by a stone that caused him to lose control of the vehicle.” Rosenfeld said police found the stone, but it did not know when it was thrown at the car and the investigation is still ongoing.

Despite this incident, and the fatal shooting of a Palestinian demonstrator, yesterday the Israel Defense Forces expressed satisfaction with the coordination with Palestinian security forces. While officials had been preparing for clashes stemming from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ formal UN statehood bid, no major violence was reported over the weekend.

While noting a rise in the incidence of rocks thrown at Israeli vehicles and at Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as well as a few confrontations, officers in the Central Command said the large-scale unrest they had feared failed to materialise. Israeli officers praised the “good and continuous” coordination over the weekend with Palestinian security forces, citing their success in containing big demonstrations inside the Palestinian cities rather than permitting them to reach areas under Israeli control.

All of the violent protests on Friday were held at the usual pressure points – where Palestinian forces are not deployed – such as the Qalandiyah crossing, north of Jerusalem, and the villages of Bil’in, Na’alin and Nabi Saleh.