Ari Fuld killing: $1m raised for family by crowdfunders

Ari Fuld had a large following on social media

A crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $1m (£760,000; 850,000 euros) for the family of an American Israeli killed by a Palestinian a week ago.

It was set up after Ari Fuld was stabbed to death at a shopping centre in the Jewish settlement bloc of Etzion in the occupied West Bank.

Mr Fuld, who had a large social media following, managed to shoot his attacker before dying from his wounds.

A 17-year-old Palestinian was arrested in connection with the killing.

Mr Fuld, 45, is the latest among dozens of Israelis to have been killed in stabbings, shootings and car-rammings, predominantly by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since late 2015.

Some 300 Palestinians - most of them attackers, Israel says - have also been killed by Israeli security forces in that period, according to news agencies.

Israel says Palestinian incitement has fuelled the attacks. The Palestinian leadership has blamed frustration rooted in decades of Israeli occupation.

'America grieves'

Ari Fuld was a prominent activist, known, amongst other things, for defending Israel and sharing his thoughts on religious topics in online videos.

He was due to undertake a speaking tour in the United States in the coming weeks.

The US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who attended Mr Fuld's funeral, tweeted that "America grieves as one of its citizens was brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist".

While no group said it was behind the attack, a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, praised the killing as a "natural response to Israeli crimes against Palestinians".

• Palestinian territories profile

• Gush Etzion Junction: The deadly roundabout

Last Sunday's attack occurred near the Gush Etzion Junction - a roundabout where Israelis and Palestinians constantly cross paths and where dozens of attacks have taken place in recent years.

Video on social media appears to show a man being pursued by several people with pistols and shot moments after he allegedly stabbed Mr Fuld.

The suspect, identified as Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, from the village of Yatta near Hebron, was injured and taken to hospital.

Mr Fuld, from the settlement of Efrat, was the father of four children. The GoFundMe page set up in his memory described him as a "Fallen Lion".

More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

There are also some 100 outposts - small settlements built without the government's authorisation.