A Palestinian family in Hebron on Friday buried its second child to be killed by Israeli forces in the last two months, locals told Ma’an.
Uday Irsheid, 24, was shot in the chest by Israeli military forces earlier Friday during clashes and later died from his injuries.
Nine others were shot by live fire during the clashes, which broke out during a weekly Friday demonstration the area.
Crowds marched from the al-Hussein Bin Ali mosque in Hebron to the al-Shuhada (Matyrs’) cemetery on Friday evening to lay the body of the 24-year-old to rest.
Clashes erupted between mourners and Israeli military following the funeral procession, where six Palestinians were injured by live fire, the spokesperson of the Red Crescent, Said al-Khatib told Ma’an.
Uday’s funeral came just over a month after his family buried his 17-year-old sister, Dania.
Dania was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Oct. 25 after police officers allegedly saw “a knife in her hand.” No Israelis were injured during the incident.
A witness told Ma’an at the time that he saw a schoolgirl with a bag on her back trying to cross an Israeli military checkpoint near the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron’s Old City.
“An Israeli soldier asked her to take the knife out of her bag, then he immediately fired gunshots into the air,” the witness said. “Seconds later the schoolgirl was lying on the ground bleeding.”
Following an investigation into several cases of Palestinian deaths, Amnesty International found that Dania’s killing was “absolutely unjustified” and called for Israel to end its “pattern of unlawful killings.”
Shortly after her death, the rights group’s Middle East and North Africa director, Philip Luther, said that Israeli forces had “ripped up the rule book.”
“Intentional lethal force should only be used when absolutely necessary to protect life,” Luther said at the time.
“Instead we are increasingly seeing Israeli forces recklessly flouting international standards by shooting to kill in situations where it is completely unjustified.”
‘We Want Our Sons’
Dania’s body was held by Israeli authorities from her family for five days following her death.
Her body was returned with five others on Oct. 30 following mass protests held by Palestinians demanding that Israel halt its policy of withholding bodies of those who were killed while allegedly carrying out attacks on Israeli military and civilians.
While Dania’s body was eventually returned, dozens of Palestinian bodies are still being held inside of Israel, Dania and Uday’s father, Jihad, told Ma’an following Uday’s funeral on Friday.
“We’re asking the international community to help us get our martyrs back. I have my children but so many others don’t. We want our sons, we want our sons,” Jihad said.
Nearly a third of the 118 Palestinians to be killed since Oct. 1 have been from the Hebron area, and Hebron families have paid a heavy toll.
“The Martyrs’ cemetery is so full we are putting three bodies in each grave,” Jihad said.
In addition to the withholding of bodies, the residents of the Hebron area in particular have come under mass arrests and restrictions on movement, with portions of the city’s center declared a “closed military zone” since Nov. 1.
(Maan)
