Jerusalem, May 13 (RHC)-- Israeli forces have attacked and beaten the mourners attending the funeral procession of veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by the regime troops in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The Palestinian Information Center (Palinfo) said in a tweet on Friday that the violence erupted as the Palestinian mourners began to move Abu Akleh’s casket from the St Louis French Hospital in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the occupied al-Quds.
“Dozens of injuries during the storming of the French hospital in al-Quds by the occupation forces,” Palinfo wrote, quoting the Red Crescent in the city.
Media reports said Israeli forces assaulted mourners to prevent them from carrying the coffin of Abu Akleh from the hospital to the Roman Catholic church in the Old City, before taking her to the Mount Zion cemetery, where she was laid to rest alongside her deceased parents.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that at least 33 people were wounded in the Israeli attack on the funeral procession.
Ahead of the funeral, the Israeli regime had imposed a number of restrictions, including on the number of mourners attending the service and the use of Palestinian flags and posters. The occupying forces even stormed Abu Akleh's home earlier in the day, attempting to tear down a Palestinian flag that was erected in her honor.
Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces arrested at least four mourners during the procession, including at least two for raising the Palestinian flag in occupied al-Quds.
Despite the restrictions, thousands of Muslim and Christian Palestinians from Jerusalem al-Quds and from across the occupied territories, including many colleagues and fellow journalists, came to pay their respects to the veteran Al Jazeera journalist, who was shot in the head Wednesday while covering an Israeli raid against the city of Jenin.
On Friday afternoon, Abu Akleh's body arrived at the Roman Catholic Church, where prayers were held for her soul before it was transferred to the cemetery. The churches of al-Quds rang their bells in conjunction with the funeral, amid heavy presence of the occupation police and military roadblocks in the roads leading to the cemetery.
