TEL AVIV — The body of a Palestinian bus driver has been discovered in Jerusalem in what Israeli officials on Monday called a suicide but which relatives claim was an attack. The driver, 32-year-old Youssef Ramouni, was found hanged in his bus at the start of the route he was supposed to have driven late on Sunday, in an area of Jerusalem close to Jewish settlements and Palestinian neighborhoods, according to Reuters.
The driver's cousin, Dr. Mohammad Ramouni, told NBC News there was no way Yousef could have hanged himself. "He was beaten all over his body," Mohammad Ramouni said. "I saw that myself."
Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said "it seemed" the driver — whose body was found late Sunday - had committed suicide. "There was no suspicion of criminal activity," he told NBC News. "However, with the coordination and the cooperation of his family — an autopsy will be carried out." Yousseff Ramouni's death comes amid simmering tensions across Israel, marked by a series of deadly clashes and attacks.
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