Palestinians say 14 injured in clashes following burial of Mohammed Abu Latifa in Qalandiya
A funeral for a Palestinian man killed while running from Israeli forces turned violent Monday night, with scores of protesters facing off against Israeli riot police in the Qalandiya refugee camp near Jerusalem.
Some 14 protesters were injured in fighting with Israeli gendarmes, according to Palestinian medical sources, as dozens of people gathered to bury Mohammad Abu Latifa, 18.
Palestinians said Israeli forces used live and rubber bullets, as well as stun grenades against protesters hurling rocks and bottles, according to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency.
There was no immediate response from Israeli authorities.
During the funeral, masked Palestinian militants fired bursts from automatic weapons into the air as other marched with flags and chanted calls for revenge.
Abu Latifa fell to his death while trying to escape Israeli forces trying to arrest him in Qalandiya during an arrest raid early on Monday, Israeli police said.
It was the third deadly arrest operation in less than a week.
Border police forces entered the Qalandiya refugee camp to arrest two “suspected terror activists,” police said.
Abu Latifa was shot in the leg as he was running away across a roof, then fell to his death as he tried to leap to another roof, according to police.
According to sources in Qalandiya, the Israeli forces raided the camp shortly before dawn, with clashes breaking out following the incident.
Police said the forces had called on Abu Latifa to stop, before shooting at his lower limbs.
“Despite that, the suspect continued to run and when he attempted to get to the roof of another building, he fell off it and was mortally wounded,” a statement said.
A paramedic with the troops attempted to treat Abu Latifa, but was forced to pronounce him dead at the scene, police said.
A Ramallah hospital source told AFP that Abu Latifa was “shot with three bullets, two in his thighs and one in his left leg.”
The source said the cause of death was loss of blood.
Police said the two men targeted in the raid were suspected of having “planned a terror attack in Israel”.
On Thursday, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in the southern West Bank while attempting to arrest his son. The day before, troops shot dead a Palestinian during clashes near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
As reported by The Times of Israel