Israeli forces clash with Palestinian mourners in West Bank

At least a dozen Palestinians have sustained injuries when Israeli forces attacked a group of Palestinians attending the funeral of a teenage boy in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

On Saturday, violence broke out in the town of Beit Ummar, located eleven kilometers (6.8 miles) northwest of al-Khalil (Hebron) as hundreds of Palestinian youths hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers following the funeral for 19-year-old Omar Zaaqiq, who was fatally shot in an alleged car-ramming attack on November 27.

Muhammad Ayyad, a local activist, said at least 12 people were struck by rubber-coated steel bullets. Two of those injured suffered wounds to the head.

Palestinian ambulances transported the wounded to a nearby hospital to receive medical treatment.

Also on Saturday, mourners marched in the funeral of Fadi Hassan al-Faroukh in the southern occupied West Bank town of Sa'ir, located 8 kilometers (five miles) northeast of al-Khalil.

The marchers chanted national slogans, demanding unity and calling on the Palestinian Authority to give an adequate response to Israeli atrocities.

Faroukh was killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes at the Beit Einun crossroads in eastern al-Khalil on November 1.

Elsewhere in the town of Beit Ula, located ten kilometers (6.2 miles) northwest of al-Khalil, Palestinians took part in the funeral of Hamzeh Moussa al-Imla, who was killed on October 20 after the Israeli army claimed that he had injured two soldiers in a vehicular attack at the Gush Etzion junction.

The latest wave of tensions was triggered by Israel’s imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

The restrictions imposed by Israel on entry into the compound have enraged Palestinians, who are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers frequently storming the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Palestinians say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.

More than 140 Palestinians, including 27 children and seven women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

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