Hundreds of mourners joined the funeral procession Thursday for a German doctor killed in an Israeli bombardment of Beit Jala town, the first foreign casualty in seven weeks of Israel-Palestinian bloodletting.
Harry Fischer, who was married to a Palestinian woman, was hit by an Israeli shell or rocket as he was leaving his house to help his neighbors, whose house was set ablaze after being hit in the overnight attack.
"Dr H. Fischer: a pioneer in human services in Palestine cut into pieces by Israeli missiles doing his sacred duty," read one banner carried by mourners as they took his body in an open coffin to the town's Greek Orthodox church.
Fischer's lower body was wrapped in Palestinian and German flags and his head covered in a keffiyeh, the traditional checkered Palestinian headdress.
"Your blood did not spill for nothing, the Israeli army will pay," chanted women from Beit Jala.
The town that lies between Jerusalem and the Palestinian-ruled city of Bethlehem has faced frequent shelling from Israeli forces in retaliation for shooting against the nearby Jewish settlement of Gilo which lies in what Israel considers the municipal borders of Jerusalem.
An AFP correspondent who saw the body said much of Fischer's left leg and part of his hand was blown away by the blast. His body was also burned and was left in the middle of the road for at least two hours because the Israeli army prevented an ambulance from reaching the scene.
Local residents said Fischer, said to be in his late 50s, had lived in the village for 25 years and had three children with his Palestinian wife.
Seven Palestinian were also injured during the Beit Jala raid, one of a series of strikes launched by Israel overnight in the West Bank.
Fischer is one of the 233 people to have been killed over the past seven weeks, most of them Palestinian in clashes with Israeli security forces -- BEIT JALA, West Bank (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
