Palestinian security forces attack mourners at funeral of teenager killed by Israel

Palestinian Authority security forces on Friday attacked mourners at the funeral of a 14-year-old boy who was shot dead by Israeli troops last month.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Amjad Abu Sultan, a boy who was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Beit Jala on 14 October.

Israeli forces alleged at the time that he was preparing to throw a Molotov cocktail. His body was returned to his family a few days ago.

The NGO Defence for Children International reported earlier this week that the Israeli army killed at least 16 children in the West Bank in 2021, as well as 61 in Gaza.

Video taken at the funeral showed plain-clothes Palestinian security officers attacking mourners at the funeral after the mourners raised banners belonging to several Palestinian factions, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.

The security forces were seen violently snatching the banners out of the mourners’ hands.

محامون من أجل العدالة:نستنكر قمع عناصر أمنية بلباس مدني لمشاركين من أحزاب مختلفة بجنازة الشــهـــيد أمجد أبو سلطان في بيت لحم، ونؤكد أن قمع حرية العمل السياسي وإنزال رايات الفصائل والاعتداء على رافعيها يتعارض مع القوانين والمرسوم الرئاسي رقم 5 لعام 2021، وندعو لضمان الحريات pic.twitter.com/OFuWkygU15

— Jmedia (@Jmediaps) November 27, 2021

The PFLP denounced the security forces in a statement, calling their actions a “savage attack”.

“The security forces have not learned lessons from their transgressions against the public and their right to protest and express their opinions. They continue to insist on repressive conduct which destroys national harmony,” the statement said.

The statement added that the attack on mourners at a funeral was a “dangerous development” and called for the security officers responsible to be held accountable.

The human rights group Lawyers for Justice also issued a condemnation, saying that what the security forces did was a violation of Palestinian laws and decrees guaranteeing freedoms.

Elsewhere in the West Bank on Friday, dozens of people were injured when Israeli forces used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters attending weekly marches against occupation and illegal settlement.

In the village of Beit Dajan in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that 19 people were injured by rubber bullets while 114 suffered from the effects of tear gas.