PA security forces fire tear gas at Huwara terrorist’s funeral in Nablus

Palestinian security forces in the West Bank fired tear gas Wednesday at mourners attending the funeral of a Hamas terrorist killed by Israeli forces, as they chanted slogans against the Palestinian Authority.

Hundreds marched through the streets of the northern West Bank city of Nablus for the funeral of Abdel Fatah Hussein Kharousha, 49, killed a day earlier along with five other Palestinians during an intense gunfight with Israeli troops in Jenin.

The Shin Bet security agency said Kharousha, a Hamas member from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, was the terrorist who opened fire on an Israeli car driving through the town of Huwara on February 26, killing Israeli brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, called him a “heroic martyr.”

As mourners carried the body of Kharousha through Nablus, some shouted insulting slogans against the Palestinian security forces and other officials, calling them “prostitutes” and “spies” for Israel.

Palestinian officers fired tear gas and stun grenades, an AFP correspondent said, and the body was taken in an ambulance.

watched| The security apparatus of the #Palestinian Authority threw a stun grenade near the body of the perpetrator of the Hawara operation, the martyr Abdel Fattah Khrusha, in #Nablus pic.twitter.com/RhGLohRd0t

— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_2) March 8, 2023

Palestinian security service spokesman Talal Dweikat said that officers had intervened when an argument broke out after “a group unrelated to the martyr’s family kidnapped the body and lowered it to the ground,” Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

“An altercation occurred while they were chanting against the [Palestinian] National Authority and the security services, instead of cursing the [Israeli] occupation that committed crimes against our people,” Dweikat added.

Meanwhile, in Jenin, crowds marched through the streets during the funerals of the five other Palestinians killed on Tuesday, all men in their 20s affiliated with armed groups who apparently took part in the exchanges of fire Tuesday. Masked gunmen were among the thousands of mourners.

The operation in Jenin was among several recent raids in northern West Bank cities that have resulted in high Palestinian death tolls, making the last several months among the deadliest the area has seen in decades. While many of those killed have been fighters, civilians have also been caught in the crossfire.

Troops also raided Nablus on Tuesday, arresting the two sons of the Huwara killer, Khaled and Muhammed Kharousha, the IDF said. According to the Shin Bet, the pair were suspected of planning and carrying out the February 26 attack in Huwara.