Clashes after funeral of Palestinian shot by Israeli forces

Clashes broke out Wednesday between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Hebron following the funeral of a young woman shot by Israeli soldiers and "left to bleed to death".

Around 50 youths allegedly threw stones at soldiers, who responded with stun grenades and tear gas in the flashpoint city, where some 500 Israeli settlers live under heavy guard among Palestinians.

Three operations were performed on my daughter. Part of her intestines had to be removed. But the bullet in her chest was what killed her - Salaheddin al-Hashlamon

The clashes followed the funeral of 18-year-old student Hadeel al-Hashlamon, who died after being shot by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on Tuesday.

Several thousand people joined the funeral procession, carrying photos of her with her face completely veiled, as well as Palestinian flags.

The military said she was shot while attempting to stab a soldier, but her father, Salaheddin al-Hashlamon, said she was innocent and had been killed "in cold blood" by multiple shots.

Photos released online have shown Hashlamon posing no threat to the soldiers.

According to local Palestinian media, the soldiers shot the first-year student after she refused to open her purse and lift her face veil.

Instead of being given immediate medical treatment, a video shows the young woman being pulled roughly out of the frame of the camera, her scarf coming off as her head drags on the ground.

She was left to bleed on the ground for at least half an hour as soldiers prevented medical teams from reaching her, according to Wattan TV.

However, the Israeli army said that the young woman was treated on site by Israeli medics and then taken to hospital.

Her father said that his daughter had been hit in the abdomen several times and was in serious condition at Shaare Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem.

"Three operations were performed on my daughter," Salah said, "and part of her intestines had to be removed. But the bullet in her chest was what killed her."

	Several thousand people joined Hashlamoun’s funeral procession [Getty]

Thousands of Palestinians attended Hashlamon’s funeral on Wednesday, the mourners carried her coffin and shouted slogans against the killing.

Her death followed that of another Palestinian, 21-year-old Dia al-Talahmeh, who was killed in a village outside Hebron by an explosive device he intended to toss at a military vehicle, the army said.

But Palestinian security officials said the man was shot dead by Israeli troops.

The shootings come just days after Israel loosened permission to its forces to use live ammunition against Palestinians.

The Palestinian ministry of information has blamed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netenyahu’s “instigations” for Hashlamon’s death.

The statement also called on the UN to form an international investigatory committee to investigate the killing.

An Arabic-language hashtag translating to “Hadil al-Hashlamon the niqab martyr” trended on Twitter as well as #JusticeForHadeel.

“May God take her as a martyr in heaven, next to Asiya, the Pharoah's wife,” said popular Saudi Islamic scholar, Aaidh al-Qarni.

High tensions

Their deaths came amid high tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem following clashes last week at the al-Aqsa mosque compound and with the convergence of the Jewish Yom Kippur and Muslim Eid al-Adha holidays.

Jerusalem has been placed under tight security, with thousands of Israeli police deployed and checkpoints between the city and the West Bank closed, as is usual for Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur began at sundown Tuesday and ends at sundown Wednesday. Eid al-Adha begins on Wednesday evening and continues until Sunday.

Next week, Jews celebrate Sukkot, a holiday that usually leads to an increase in visits to the al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount.

It is the third-holiest site for Muslims and the most sacred site in Judaism.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Tuesday of the risk of a new intifada, or uprising, if the volatility at the al-Aqsa compound worsens.

A UN this week said "the absence of a political process and the rise of violent extremism and terrorism in the region present a danger as much to the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians for statehood, as to the security of Israel."

Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have been at a standstill for more than a year.