A masked Palestinian protester is hit by a car while throwing rocks Friday in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. On Friday clashes erupted in Silwan, a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem that is also home to families of Israeli settlers.

Jerusalem ? Israeli troops in the West Bank killed two senior Hamas militants, and a settler leader struck a rock-wielding Palestinian youth with his car Friday in disputed east Jerusalem as tensions rose over stalled peace talks.

Friction typically runs high in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan because several Jewish families have settled in the predominantly Palestinian area.

The head of a settler organization that buys up property for Jews was driving through when his car was charged by several masked Palestinian protesters carrying rocks.

The driver, David Beeri of the Elad organization, swerved, then struck one of the boys, who was thrown onto the hood of the car and then somersaulted off. Beeri said the accident was unintentional, Israeli media reported.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Beeri was brought in for questioning. Media later reported that he was released on bail just before the Jewish Sabbath.

Police said the boy was lightly hurt and Israeli TV showed him being interviewed from a hospital bed in east Jerusalem.

Rioting erupted in east Jerusalem three weeks ago after a private Israeli security guard protecting Jewish families in Silwan killed a 32-year-old Palestinian man.

The two Hamas gunmen, killed in a raid in the West Bank city of Hebron, were involved in the shooting deaths of four Israelis near the city on Aug. 31, just as new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were getting under way, the Israeli military said. Media aligned with Hamas in the Gaza Strip also said the men were behind the Hebron shooting.