Clashes at 
funeral of boy ‘seized 
and killed 
in revenge’

Palestinian militants fired at least six rockets and mortar shells toward Israel, but that was a sharp decline from recent weeks and no retaliatory Israeli airstrikes were reported a day after the Israeli military rushed additional forces to its southern border with the Gaza Strip because of intensifying barrages.

An ambulance carried the body of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir, wrapped in a Palestinian flag and traditional headscarf, to a mosque in the neighbourhood where he lived. Then mourners carried the open casket through the crowd to a cemetery.

During the procession, masked Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli police officers on duty nearby who responded with stun grenades. More than 2,000 people attended the funeral.

Police had beefed up security in and around Jerusalem as the funeral coincided with the first Friday prayer services of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and no casualties were immediately reported from the clashes or other unrest in the area.

Police clashed with hundreds of Palestinians in Ras al-Amud and Wadi Joz in the eastern sector of the city, which has been rocked by violent protests since Abu Khdeir’s burned body was found in a forest after he was seized near his home in the east Jerusalem of Shuafat.

Tensions have been high since three Israeli teenagers were abducted in the West Bank on June 12, sparking a massive manhunt that ended with the discovery of their bodies early this week.

Israel has blamed Hamas for the abductions and launched a crackdown on the Islamic militant group in the West Bank, drawing rocket attacks out of Gaza and Israeli airstrikes in a near-daily cycle of retaliation. Hamas, which has kidnapped Israelis in the past, praised the kidnapping of the teens but did not take responsibility for it.

Palestinians have accused Israeli extremists for killing Abu Khdeir, saying it was a revenge attack for the deaths of the three Israeli teens. Israeli police said an investigation was ongoing and 
the motive has yet to be determined.

On Thursday it was announced by the Israeli military that reinforcements had been sent to the border with Gaza in a bid to halt a growing wave of rocket fire. But it was insisted that the move was “defensive”.

The killing of the Palestinian boy was widely condemned by Israeli leaders, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has vowed to find the attackers.

“We don’t know yet the motives or the identities of the perpetrators, but we will. We will bring to justice the criminals responsible for this despicable crime whoever they may be,” Mr Netanyahu said. “Murder, riots, incitement, vigilantism, they have no place in our democracy.”