Israeli forces shot and injured eight Palestinians with live bullets in Qutna village northwest of Jerusalem, during clashes that broke out after the funeral of two Palestinians who were shot and killed earlier this month by Israeli forces, medics said. Medics said Israeli forces shot and injured eight Palestinians with live fire, while dozens of others were shot and injured with rubber-coated steel bullets and suffered from severe tear gas inhalation during the clashes that erupted after the funeral of Omar al-Faqeh and Muhammad Nathmi Shamasneh, both 23 years old.

Before clashes broke out, thousands had attended the funeral of the two men whose bodies were released from Israeli custody on Sunday.
Al-Faqeh, 23, was shot dead by Israeli forces at Qalandiya checkpoint on Oct. 17 after he allegedly stabbed and injured an Israeli Border Police officer.

Shamasneh, meanwhile, was killed on Oct. 13, after he allegedly carried out a stabbing attack on an Israeli bus in northwest Jerusalem, lightly wounding an Israeli soldier.
Israel’s security cabinet decided last month that the bodies of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces after carrying out attacks on Israeli citizens would no longer be returned to their families.

The decision — one among a series of stringent security measures — was an attempt to stem protests that frequently accompany the funerals of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.

Israel has kept the bodies of the majority of Palestinians killed this month, although Israeli daily Haaretz recently reported that the cabinet now considers keeping the bodies “a burden and not an asset.”

Ongoing clashes

Israeli forces shot and wounded at least 2,617 Palestinians with live and rubber-coated steel bullets through October, the Palestinian Red Cross said Sunday, as clashes carried on into the new month. A Red Crescent spokesperson told Ma’an that at least 760 Palestinians were shot with live rounds across the occupied Palestinian territory, while another 1,857 were hit with rubber-coated steel bullets.

He said that a further 5,399 Palestinians were treated for excessive tear gas inhalation during the period, while another 246 were injured in other ways, including assault by Israeli soldiers and burns from tear gas canisters. The spokesperson said that it brought the total injured during October to 8,262 Palestinians. MAAN