AFP
Hebron
Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man in the West Bank yesterday when they opened fire during the funeral of a Palestinian recently released from an Israeli jail, medics said.
Two other Palestinians were wounded when Israeli troops opened fire to quell protests that erupted in Hebron after the burial of the man, who had died shortly after leaving prison, the medics said.
The 30-year-old victim, Ziad Awad, was shot in the back, they said.
The Palestinian medics identified the man who was buried as a relative, Jaafar Awad, who fell ill before he was released from jail.
Angry protests erupted during his funeral in the southern West Bank, with mourners accusing Israel of responsibility for his death.
Thousands of people marched in the funeral procession in the village of Beit Ummar, and some pelted troops deployed nearby with stones, witnesses said.
Israeli soldiers retaliated by firing teargas and rubber bullets before resorting to live rounds, the witnesses added.
The head of a Palestinian Authority body in charge of prisoner affairs, Issa Qaraqe, issued a statement alleging Jaafar Awad had died of “medical negligence” at the hands of Israeli prison authorities.
“Israel alone is responsible for his death,” Qaraqe said in the statement, and called for an international probe.
Jaafar’s father, Ibrahim Awad, said before his son’s death that Israeli prison authorities had given the 23-year-old man “an injection that made him ill and totally weakened him”.
Israel jailed Jaafar Awad over “terrorist activity” and “membership in the Islamic Jihad” Palestinian militant group—accusations denied by his family.
Relatives of Ziad Awad mourn during his funeral yesterday.
