About 50,000 people, including hundreds of gunmen firing in the air, turned out in Gaza City for the funeral of the 15 victims, killed in the overnight Israeli air strike on a civilian building, after an umbrella of Palestinian nationalist and Islamic factions called for a "day of rage."
The mourners gathered outside the Shiffa Hospital in the western neighborhood of the city, waiting for taking the bodies. Supporters and members of the five main Palestinian factions participated in the funeral procession.
Each group was led by its members who were all masked and carried all kinds of rifles, hand grenades, anti-tank missiles and mortar shells. Gunmen fired thousands of bullets in the air amid chant of "death to Israel, death to America." The bodies of the dead, including nine children, were carried on the shoulders of the mourners who marched down the city's main street to the destroyed building to let their families and neighbors bid farewell to the killed.
"Sleep well martyrs, sleep well Sheikh Shehade (Hamas’ military wing chief), and never mind your people will revenge soon for your blood," chanted one of the mourners, while another said the happiness of Israel and the Israelis would never last for too long.
"Israel now is not only involved in troubles with Hamas or the Islamic Jihad, but also involved in troubles with all the Palestinian people," said Imad Salman, one of the mourners, adding that "every Palestinian will revenge for their death."
Shortly after the mass funeral ended, three homemade Qassam rockets, launched from the northern Gaza Strip, exploded in the Sderot town area of southern Israel without causing any injuries. Israel’s Public radio which quoted military sources said the rockets, produced by the military wing of Hamas, landed in an open area less than 100 meters away from populated houses.
Earlier in the evening, two Israelis were lightly injured when four mortars were fired at a Jewish settlement in the northern Gaza Strip. Prior to that, Palestinians fired a Qassam rocket at the Erez industrial zone in Gaza which did not explode. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli army closed the Erez industrial zone in fear of an attack in response to the assassination of Shehade. Almost all of the Israeli military outposts in Gush Katif settlement bloc and the northern Gaza Strip were attacked Tuesday morning, while overnight dozens of shooting incidents took place in the Strip. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
