At least ten thousand residents of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem took part in the funeral at midday on Thursday of the four Palestinian resistance fighters who were killed by the Israeli army late on Wednesday night.
Residents gathered at midday and held prayers before carrying the four men to a grave yard located in Obiyat village, two kilometres east of Bethlehem city.
Mohammad Shehada, Imad el-Kamel, Issa Marzouk and Ahmad el-Balboul, all from Bethlehem were ambushed by Israeli troops dressed in civilian clothes and driving a civilian car, in a Bethlehem suburb, killing them instantly. Israel claimed the four men were wanted.
As Bethlehem mourned the four men, the Israeli Defense minister, Ehod Barak, stated that the army will continue to hunt down Palestinian resistance fighters in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Commenting on Wednesday’s Bethlehem attack, Barak told Israeli reporters ‘Yesterday in Bethlehem we demonstrated once again that the state of Israel will continue to pursue and strike all killers with Jewish blood on their hands,’
Barak’s comments were made during a ceremony for the Israeli army in the occupied city of Jerusalem today.
