Hamas Slams Israeli Attack on Palestinian’s Funeral in Al-Quds as ‘Act of Terrorism’

“Heavily-armed” Israeli police stormed the procession, which was being held in the holy occupied city of al-Quds on Monday, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported on Tuesday.

At least 71 Palestinians were injured during the raid, which saw the regime’s forces firing rubber-coated steel bullets and teargas canisters at the pallbearers, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported. The forces also beat the mourners and deployed stun grenades against them, it added.

Reacting to the Israeli savagery, the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement called the attack “an act of terrorism by Zionists.”

The violence, Hamas added, “will be met with all-out steadfastness, resistance, and confrontation on the part of Palestinians.”

The 23-year-old victim, named as Waleed Sharif, had earlier succumbed to the injuries he had received in an Israeli swoop on the al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound in al-Quds’ Old City during Ramadan. The holy fasting month witnessed a significant increase in the regime’s violence against the Palestinian worshipers, who would visit the site.

Among the casualties of the Monday confrontation with the mourners, “13 Palestinians required hospitalization,” including two who had suffered eye injuries.

Scores of Palestinians were also reportedly detained during the raid.

The attack came several days after a similar bout of aggression, staged by the regime’s forces against the Palestinian mourners, who were carrying the coffin bearing Shereen Abu Akleh.

The veteran Al Jazeera journalist was murdered in cold blood while covering an Israeli raid against the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank.