Palestinian man dies after home set alight during settler attack yesterday, eyewitness says

A Palestinian resident of the village of Sinjil, close to Ramallah, has died after his home was set on fire during a violent settler attack yesterday.

An eyewitness to the attack tells The Times of Israel that Wael Rarabi, 47, died after suffering a heart attack, following beatings by soldiers, tear gas, and smoke inhalation.

Wael’s cousin A’id Rarabi, who was with him throughout the day, says that in the morning, dozens of settlers arrived and set fire to vehicles and homes on the outskirts of the village, including Wael’s house.

Ai’d and three others, including Wael, tried to flee the area when, according to A’id, four jeeps approached. Four IDF soldiers then emerged from one of the jeeps and began to beat Wael and two other Palestinians, Ai’d recounts. He says they also arrested one of the Palestinians and launched tear gas and stun grenades.

“When we saw that the settlers had left the village, we returned to Wael’s house to extinguish the fire,” Ai’d says.”Since the soldiers’ attack, Wael said he had chest pain, and when he entered his house, he said that he couldn’t breathe. He repeated this several times and then collapsed. The ambulance took him to a nearby clinic, where it was determined he had suffered a heart attack.”

He was then transferred to intensive care at Ramallah Hospital, where he was pronounced dead after resuscitation efforts, Ai’d says.

As reported yesterday, during the same incident settlers also set fire to the property and home of a Bedouin family living on the outskirts of Sinjil. According to the Palestinians, one of the family members was injured in settler beatings.

No response has yet been received from the IDF.