Palestinians bury 17 bodies handed over by Israeli army

Palestinians bury 17 bodies handed over by Israeli army

Hundreds of men attended a mass funeral procession in the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday to bury 17 Palestinians killed during attacks on Israelis in recent weeks.

The crowd carried the bodies on stretchers, wrapped in Palestinian flags and covered with flowers, through the streets of Hebron, waving flags and chanting ‘God is great’.

Israel transferred 23 Palestinian bodies on Friday to Palestinian towns and villages across the West Bank.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Reuters that Israel Defense Forces “returned the bodies of 23 Palestinian assailants who attacked Israeli civilians and security forces over the past month.”

Other than the 17 bodies received at Hebron’s hospital, one was received in Nablus, two in Silwad and one more in the Palestinian village of Arora, the army spokeswoman added.

Almost daily Palestinian stabbings, car-rammings and shooting attacks have killed 21 Israelis and a U.S. citizen, raising fears of a wider escalation a decade after the last Palestinian uprising subsided.

Since the start of October, Israeli forces or armed civilians have killed at least 132 Palestinians, 82 of whom authorities described as assailants. Most of the others have been killed in clashes with security forces.

The surge in violence has been fuelled by Palestinians’ frustration over Israel’s 48-year occupation of land they seek for an independent state, and the expansion of settlements in those territories which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

Palestinian leaders say a younger generation sees no hope for the future living under Israeli security restrictions and with a stifled economy. The latest round of U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in April 2014.

Violence has also been triggered by Muslim anger over stepped-up Israeli visits to Jerusalem’s al Aqsa mosque complex. The site, Islam’s holiest outside Saudi Arabia, is also revered by many Jews as a vestige of their biblical temples.

Israeli leaders say Islamist groups who call for the destruction of Israel have played a major role in inciting the recent violence.

 

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Attacks Victims Palestinians bodies 'bury' Israeli army

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