Two Palestinian murder suspects killed in courthouse attack
Two Palestinians facing murder charges in a West Bank court were killed today when hundreds of people stormed the courthouse and opened fire.
A third defendant was also seriously wounded in the attack.
The three men were on trial for allegedly murdering a member of their clan, who was also an officer in the Preventive Security Service.
The officer, Osama Qmeil, had killed several Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A large crowd gathered outside the courthouse for this morning’s trial and, at one point, someone yelled that the defendants had been jailed for 15 years.
In response, about 300 people attacked the guards, pushed them aside and stormed the building before severely beating the three defendants, killing two of them.
