California police said Monday they had opened an investigation into the death of a Jewish man who died after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Clashes broke out Sunday between demonstrators at two rallies, one pro-Palestinian and the other pro-Israeli, in Thousand Oaks, northwest of Los Angeles, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
At the scene, police found that the victim, Paul Kessler, 69, “suffered from head trauma,” the release said. “Witnesses indicated that Kessler was involved in a physical altercation with one or more demonstrators” from the pro-Palestinian rally.
“During the altercation, Mr. Kessler fell backwards and hit his head on the ground,” the statement added. He died Monday as a result of his injuries, according to the same source, which specifies that an investigation has been opened.
This incident occurred a month after the attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, which left more than 1,400 dead, mostly civilians. The Palestinian Islamist movement has also taken more than 240 hostages to Gaza.
Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombed the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas, more than 10,022 people died in Israeli bombings, the majority civilians including more than 4,000 children.