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PA security forces attack funeral procession in Jenin

March 21, 2024 at 12:01 pm

Palestinians attend the funeral ceremony of Zeyd Varid Shukri Halife (23) and Abdullah Memun Hasan Assaf (16), who were killed by Israeli forces at Al-Cib checkpoint, in Jerusalem on March 13, 2024. [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]

Fighting broke out in Jenin in the occupied northern West Bank on Wednesday when Palestinian security forces opened fire on the funeral procession of the martyrs who were killed by the Israeli occupation forces. According to the occupation army, it used a drone to target “terrorist activists” in the city.

One of those killed, claimed the army, was “the perpetrator of the shooting in Hermesh [an illegal Israeli settlement in Tulkarm Governorate] in May 2023.” Another was named as Mohammad Hawasheen, the leader of an Islamic Jihad group in Jenin. One other Islamic Jihad member was also killed in the drone attack, but was not named. A fourth was seriously wounded, said the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

Local sources explained that before burying the bodies of the martyrs, demands were issued to wait for the Palestinian Authority to release detained members of the Jenin Battalion to allow them to bid farewell to their martyred comrades. As the funeral procession began by heading towards the Mukataa headquarters in Jenin to demand the release of detainees, the security services opened fire with sound bombs.

The same sources said that gunmen responded and an armed confrontation took place. They also pointed out that the burial went ahead, even as the fighting continued.

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