News / Palestine

Palestinians hold mass funeral for girl killed by Israeli forces

Sunday, 24 January 2016 4:41 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 24 January 2016 4:41 PM ]

Palestinian security forces carry the body of Roqaya Abu-Eid, a Palestinian teenager who was shot dead during her funeral on January 24, 2016 in the southern West Bank village of Yatta. (AFP Photo)

A large number of Palestinians have staged a mass funeral for a 13-year-old Palestinian girl who was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of Ruqayya Eid Abu Eid in the southern West Bank village of Yatta, south of al-Khalil (Hebron), on Sunday, Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported.

The funeral reportedly turned into a defiant mass march against Israel. The mourners chanted slogans condemning the Tel Aviv regime crimes and calling for an end to Israeli atrocities.

The Palestinian mourners also urged the international community to break its silence on Israel’s acts of violence against Palestinians.

They also demanded that the Palestinian authorities take solid steps to prevent Israel from committing crimes against Palestinian children.

The young Palestinian girl was gunned down outside the illegal Anatot settlement in northeastern al-Quds (Jerusalem) after she allegedly tried to stab a soldier on Saturday.

Also on Saturday night, a Palestinian teenage boy lost his life as he allegedly attempted to attack an Israeli military base in East al-Quds using a bomb.

The 17-year-old victim, identified as Mohammad Nabil Halabiya, was killed in the town of Abu Dis as the bomb he was reportedly holding in his hands exploded.

According to reports, Israeli forces prevented medical staff from reaching the area to treat the boy who finally succumbed to his wounds there.

Israeli soldiers control an access to the Palestinian village of Karma, southwest of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the southern West Bank on January 18, 2016. (AFP photo)

Tensions have been running high across the occupied Palestinian lands in recent months over Tel Aviv’s imposition of restrictions on Palestinian worshipers’ entry into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds in August last year.

The tensions have also been escalated by the repeated desecration of the compound by extremist Israeli settlers, who are usually accompanied by Israeli military forces.

Over 160 Palestinians, including children and women, have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has voiced concerns over the excessive use of force and “extrajudicial killing” of Palestinians by Israeli forces. The body says that circumstances surrounding several of the Palestinian deaths over the past weeks remain disputed.

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