Vandals Smash Tombstones In Jerusalem Christian Cemetery

Four men, two of whom were settlers from the occupied West Bank, were caught throwing concrete blocks at tombstones a Christian cemetery near Jerusalem's walled Old City on Sunday (September 29).

Several of the headstones, some of which dated back to the early 1900s, had had stone crosses broken off.

The men were apprehended by policemen who were nearby, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Rosenfeld said that two of the detained men "are known Hilltop Youth activists," referring to a fringe group of Jewish settlers who are suspected by Israeli authorities of vandalising several mosques and monasteries in the past few years.

"We are still looking to the background of that incident, it seems to be a criminal incident with nationalistic motives," Rosenfeld said.

The suspects are aged between 17 and 26.