Three soldiers hurt during riot at Palestinian terrorist’s funeral
Border Police officer, two IDF servicemen suffer minor injuries in unrest north of Hebron
Three Israeli soldiers were lightly injured Saturday morning during riots in the West Bank village of Bayt Umar.
The unrest broke out during the funeral of a Palestinian terrorist whose body was returned to his family after being held by Israel for several months following an attack in October.
Hundreds of Palestinians burned tires and threw stones at an IDF detachment during the funeral of Khaled Ahmed Alian Khalili. Khalili, 23, plowed his car into a group of Israeli police officers on October 31, injuring three. He was shot dead at the scene.
Israeli security forces responded to Saturday’s stone-throwing with riot control measures. A Border Police officer, IDF officer and soldier suffered minor injuries, Ynet reported.
Khalili’s was one of nine bodies of Palestinians killed carrying out attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians that Israel returned to Palestinian authorities on Friday.
Five of the bodies were those of Palestinians from the flashpoint city of Hebron in the West Bank, an army spokeswoman said.
They were returned a week after Israel handed Palestinian authorities the bodies of seven other Palestinians.
A wave of Palestinian attacks erupted last year, but the violence has greatly subsided in recent months.
Since October 2015, 246 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to an AFP count.
Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to rocket attacks.
Since the start of the violence, Israeli forces have confiscated the bodies of killed Palestinians, often for several months, as a means of deterrence and to prevent clashes and incitement during funerals.
