‘Self-proclaimed Palestinian, 50s, douses elderly Israel-supporters with gasoline and hurls Molotov cocktails’ – six pensioners left with agonising burns during peaceful Sunday walk
• Attack erupted just after 2:30 pm on Pearl Street, Sunday, June 1
• Suspect allegedly splashed gasoline from a garden sprayer and tossed homemade fire-bombs
• Victims – most in their 70s – had gathered for their weekly silent walk in support of Israeli hostages
• Witness says attacker screamed “You f***ing Zionists kill my people so I kill you!”
• One woman’s hair was charred; others suffered melted clothing and skin injuries
• Bystanders used a courthouse fountain to douse flames while waiting ten minutes for paramedics
• Police wrestled the man to the ground and took him into custody within minutes
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Terrified witnesses have described the moment a man claiming to be Palestinian turned a tranquil pro-Israel walk on Pearl Street into a fire-soaked inferno – spraying elderly demonstrators with gasoline and torching them with Molotov cocktails.
The horror unfolded around 2:30 pm on Sunday as about two dozen participants – many in their seventies – carried Israeli flags and signs calling for the release of hostages. According to on-looker BHflyer5, the assailant, believed to be in his 50s, calmly approached with what looked like a garden pump sprayer filled with fuel, then began dousing the crowd before lobbing flaming bottles.
“It was clearly pre-meditated,” the witness wrote on X, noting the walk has taken place every Sunday without incident since 7 October 2023. “He shouted, ‘You f***ing Zionists kill my people so I kill you!’ – then everything was on fire.”
Panic erupted as flames leapt across trousers and hair. One woman was left “so severely burned her hair was charred and she wasn’t moving”, while others collapsed in shock, their legs blistered and bleeding where fabric had melted into flesh. Passers-by frantically scooped water from a nearby courthouse fountain, sluicing scorched skin while waiting for ambulances that “easily took ten minutes” to arrive.
In all, six people were rushed to hospital with serious burn injuries. Despite the chaos, police officers sprinted onto the scene and wrestled the attacker to the pavement, handcuffing him almost immediately. His name has not yet been released.
Investigators are now examining whether the rampage was motivated by the Israel-Hamas war and have not ruled out hate-crime charges. Pearl Street remained cordoned off into the evening as forensic teams collected shards of glass and charred clothing.
Locals, still shaken, laid fresh Israeli flags at the blackened stretch of pavement last night. “It’s sickening,” said 72-year-old marcher Ruth Stern, her arm bandaged from burns. “We gather in silence every week. We never imagined someone would try to burn us alive.”
