West Bank city holds funerals after Israeli Raids
Published: 06:09 PM,Sep 13,2024 | EDITED : 10:09 PM,Sep 13,2024
Palestinian relatives cry during the funeral procession of men killed in an Israeli air strike in Tubas, amid an ongoing military raid
TUBAS: The families of Palestinians killed in an air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas held funerals on Friday after Israeli forces withdrew following their latest raid in the territory. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the military withdrew on Thursday evening, allowing the funerals to go ahead.
The four men buried in Tubas on Friday were killed in an air strike at dawn on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. A fifth fatality from the same strike was buried on Friday in Tamoun, also in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli military said in its statement that Israeli aircraft had 'struck and eliminated a cell consisting of five gunmen armed with explosives who posed a threat to Israeli forces'.
On Friday morning, hundreds of people walked through the streets of Tubas alongside the four bodies hoisted on stretchers and wrapped in white cloth.
Some in the crowd waved the green flag of the Palestinian movement Hamas and gunfire punctuated the chants of the mourners. 'I woke up in the morning to the sound of an explosion,' Ahmed Sawafta, father of one of the dead men said, describing the strike on Wednesday. 'My brothers came and told me that Yassin had been martyred,' he said, referring to his son.
Osaid Kharaz, who identified himself as a Hamas activist, said at the funeral that Israel 'is attempting to impose a new reality and undermine the popular support for the resistance to Israeli occupation in the West Bank.'
Israeli forces this week also carried out operations in the northern West Bank governorate of Tulkarem. The Palestinian Red Crescent and the health ministry both reported that one volunteer paramedic and a young woman were killed during an Israeli raid there on Tuesday.
The health ministry also reported three killed near Tulkarem city on Wednesday 'as a result of an Israeli air strike on a vehicle'. The Palestinian Red Crescent gave the same toll. Wafa reported that Israeli forces also withdrew from Tulkarem on Thursday and that funerals were held there on Friday.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and has ramped up deadly raids in the territory since October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 679 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli military or settlers since October 7. At least 24 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the territory during the same period.
The four men buried in Tubas on Friday were killed in an air strike at dawn on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. A fifth fatality from the same strike was buried on Friday in Tamoun, also in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli military said in its statement that Israeli aircraft had 'struck and eliminated a cell consisting of five gunmen armed with explosives who posed a threat to Israeli forces'.
On Friday morning, hundreds of people walked through the streets of Tubas alongside the four bodies hoisted on stretchers and wrapped in white cloth.
Some in the crowd waved the green flag of the Palestinian movement Hamas and gunfire punctuated the chants of the mourners. 'I woke up in the morning to the sound of an explosion,' Ahmed Sawafta, father of one of the dead men said, describing the strike on Wednesday. 'My brothers came and told me that Yassin had been martyred,' he said, referring to his son.
Osaid Kharaz, who identified himself as a Hamas activist, said at the funeral that Israel 'is attempting to impose a new reality and undermine the popular support for the resistance to Israeli occupation in the West Bank.'
Israeli forces this week also carried out operations in the northern West Bank governorate of Tulkarem. The Palestinian Red Crescent and the health ministry both reported that one volunteer paramedic and a young woman were killed during an Israeli raid there on Tuesday.
The health ministry also reported three killed near Tulkarem city on Wednesday 'as a result of an Israeli air strike on a vehicle'. The Palestinian Red Crescent gave the same toll. Wafa reported that Israeli forces also withdrew from Tulkarem on Thursday and that funerals were held there on Friday.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and has ramped up deadly raids in the territory since October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 679 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli military or settlers since October 7. At least 24 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the territory during the same period.