Hundreds of Palestinian residents, including the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya, and Ahmad Bahar, head of the Legislative Council, participated on Monday in the funeral and burial ceremonies of eight Palestinians, including seven members of one family, killed in Israeli shelling of a residential area east of Gaza City on Sunday evening..The residents chanted slogans demanding revenge for this crime and other Israeli military crimes carried out against the Palestinian people, calling on the resistance to retaliate without delay.
Several ministers also attended the funeral and burial ceremonies.
The residents marched from Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to the Al Omari Mosque were they prayed on the bodies before burying them.
Khalil Al Hayya, the Palestinian Legislator from the Hamas movement who was targeted by the strike, stated that the Palestinian people will continue their resistance and will maintain their national unity.
He added that Israel wished to punish him for his positive role in achieving a ceasefire between Fatah and Hamas gunmen.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Haniyya stated that the population must remain steadfast, show themselves to be stronger than the shells and remain persistent in their resistance of the occupation and their desire to achieve independence and liberation, adding that Palestinain must reject any solution that will eliminate their just cause or compromise their deserved rights.
Also on Monday, hundreds of residents participated in the funeral of four other residents, members of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, who were assassinated by the army in Gaza.
The brigades and several leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement vowed retaliation, stating that, “these crimes will not pass unpunished”.
The brigades also vowed to continue firing homemade shells into Israeli areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip, noting that Israeli military offensive will not prevent the resistance activities.
