HUNDREDS TAKE PART IN FUNERAL OF SLAIN 13-YEAR-OLD PALESTINIAN

Bethlehem, 23 Dzulhijjah 1436/7 October  2015 (MINA) –  Hundreds of Palestinians on Tuesday took part in the funeral procession of a 13-year-old boy who was shot dead by Israeli forces near Bethlehem the day before.

Abed al-Rahman Obeidallah, 13, was shot in his chest while returning home from school amid fierce clashes in Aida refugee camp on Monday afternoon, Maan News Agency  quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

He was rushed to Beit Jala hospital where he immediately underwent surgery, but doctors later pronounced the child dead.

Up to 1,200 Palestinians marched behind a Palestinian military vehicle that carried the child’s body from Beit Jala hospital to his family’s home in Aida refugee camp.

The procession traveled across a road that once served as the main route between the southern West Bank and Jerusalem, before Israel’s separation wall cut it off.

After the family bid their final farewells, the funeral procession made its way to an Islamic cemetery near Rachel’s Tomb, where the boy was led to rest.

Many mourners waved Palestinian flags, as well as those of different military groups, and many cried out slogans against the Israeli occupation and pledging to take revenge for Obeidallah’s death.

They urged Palestinian resistance groups to retaliate the Israeli “crime.”

Stores, schools and government bodies remained closed across Bethlehem on Tuesday out of respect for Obeidallah.

The child was the second Palestinian to be killed in 12 hours, after an 18-year-old Palestinian was shot dead during clashes in Tulkarem overnight Sunday.

On Monday evening, a Red Crescent spokeswoman told Ma’an that at least 500 Palestinians had been injured in fierce clashes that have swept across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

At least 41 Palestinians were shot with live rounds, while 143 were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets.

The Palestinian Red Cross has declared a state of emergency across the occupied Palestinian territory, and said on Sunday that it was putting all its staff, teams and volunteers on standby.

The PLO has warned that attacks by both Israeli soldiers and settlers indicated “the Israeli government is deliberately creating a situation of violence and instability that threatens to spiral out of control.” (T/P010/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)