Israel Allows Limited Funeral For Suspected Rabbi Attacker

An Israeli court on Thursday decided to release at 23: 30 GMT the body of a slain Palestinian man, who was suspected of shooting an Israeli rabbi on Wednesday, allowing only 45 relatives to attend his funeral.



The court had decided to hand the body of Moataz Hegazi to his family for burial, Israel's Channel I reported, adding that the court had turned down a request by police to allow only 20 family members to attend the funeral.



Several Palestinian youth groups, however, called on Palestinians to attend the funeral in numbers and make their presence felt around the Bab al-Asbat cemetery that is expected to be Hegazi's final resting place.



Hegazi, who had been accused by Israel of shooting extremist rabbi Yehuda Glick on Wednesday, was killed by Israeli forces on Thursday during a raid on his house in East Jerusalem.



Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that Israeli forces had also arrested Hegazi's father and brother during the raid.



Following the incident, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters in Hegazi's Al-Thawri neighborhood and in the nearby Silwan and Isawiya districts.



Eyewitnesses said shops in Jerusalem's Old City had been shut in the wake of the clashes.



A group of Palestinian Muslim worshippers gathered outside the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound amid beefed-up security, including an Israeli surveillance helicopter that hovered overhead.



Israeli Police said Hegazi – who had reportedly spent several years in an Israeli prison before being released in 2012 – had been killed when he opened fire on police while resisting arrest in East Jerusalem.



Three other Palestinians were injured in the Israeli police raid, eyewitnesses said.



Glick, who was seriously injured in the shooting, is known for frequently leading groups of extremist Jewish settlers into Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.



Following the rabbi's shooting, Israeli authorities shut the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound indefinitely for the first time since Israel's 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem.



For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.



Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.



In September 2000, a visit to the site by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the "Second Intifada," a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.



By Alaa Rimawi



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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