Funeral held for teenager killed by Israeli settlers

Thousands of Palestinian people in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) have held a funeral for a Palestinian teenager burnt to death by Israeli settlers.

The funeral of the 16-year-old teenager was held amid tight security on Friday.

Mohamed Abu Khedir is being buried two days after his burned body was found in a forest in the volatile region. He had been abducted near his home in East al-Quds earlier this week.

Abu Khedir’s death has sparked angry protests by Palestinians in the occupied territories. Palestinians and Israeli forces have been engaged in a series of widespread violent clashes over the past days.

Tensions are still running high, with Israeli troops using tear gas to disperse angry Palestinian demonstrators in Ras al-Amud neighborhood of East al-Quds. Latest reports say intense clashes have also occurred in Beit Hanina between Israeli forces and the Palestinians.

The latest incident happened a day after Israel buried three settlers, whose bodies had been found in a field near the village of Hilhul, north of the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the West Bank.

Tel Aviv claims the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, is responsible for the death of the three. However, Hamas rejects the allegation.

Israeli forces killed several Palestinians and arrested hundreds of others, including Hamas members and lawmakers, as part of the military operations that were purportedly carried out in search of the three settlers, who Israel claimed had gone missing on June 12.

According to the latest figures revealed by the Palestinian Ministry of Information in Ramallah, Israeli forces have killed one Palestinian kid in every three days for the past 13 years. Based on the same source, nearly 1,500 children have been killed during the Second Intifada or popular uprising between 2000 and 2013.