This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/world/middleeast/israel.html
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Tense Jerusalem Awaits Funeral of Slain Palestinian | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Militants in Gaza fired six rockets into southern Israel on Friday morning, continuing the recent spate of cross-border violence, as Jerusalem braced for the funeral of a Palestinian teenager killed this week in what was widely presumed to have been an act of revenge by Jews for the June 12 abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers. | JERUSALEM — Militants in Gaza fired six rockets into southern Israel on Friday morning, continuing the recent spate of cross-border violence, as Jerusalem braced for the funeral of a Palestinian teenager killed this week in what was widely presumed to have been an act of revenge by Jews for the June 12 abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers. |
| Israel mobilized troops around Gaza on Thursday, though political and military officials insisted they had no interest in escalating the conflict there. The officials said they were only preparing to respond to moves by Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction that dominates Gaza and that Israel holds responsible for last month’s attack on the three teenagers. The BBC quoted an anonymous Hamas official Friday as saying that a cease-fire deal would be announced within hours; spokesmen for the Israeli military and the prime minister’s office refused to respond to the report. | Israel mobilized troops around Gaza on Thursday, though political and military officials insisted they had no interest in escalating the conflict there. The officials said they were only preparing to respond to moves by Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction that dominates Gaza and that Israel holds responsible for last month’s attack on the three teenagers. The BBC quoted an anonymous Hamas official Friday as saying that a cease-fire deal would be announced within hours; spokesmen for the Israeli military and the prime minister’s office refused to respond to the report. |
| “One possibility is that the fire stops, and the quiet continues,” the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday night, at an Independence Day event at the residence of the United States ambassador to Israel. “Otherwise, the fire will continue, and then reinforced troops in southern Israel will use force.” | “One possibility is that the fire stops, and the quiet continues,” the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday night, at an Independence Day event at the residence of the United States ambassador to Israel. “Otherwise, the fire will continue, and then reinforced troops in southern Israel will use force.” |
| The recent days have been among the most tense between Israelis and Palestinians in a decade, with hateful social-media campaigns, street battles with security forces and rampant rumors all reflecting the intense debate about whether the long-running conflict had sunk to new depths. The funeral for the slain Palestinian youth, 16-year-old Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir, was seen as a potential flash point, particularly because it was coming on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a point on the calendar that has often seen clashes. | The recent days have been among the most tense between Israelis and Palestinians in a decade, with hateful social-media campaigns, street battles with security forces and rampant rumors all reflecting the intense debate about whether the long-running conflict had sunk to new depths. The funeral for the slain Palestinian youth, 16-year-old Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir, was seen as a potential flash point, particularly because it was coming on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a point on the calendar that has often seen clashes. |
| Israeli forces on Friday blocked off streets around Jerusalem’s Old City and barred Muslim men under 50 from entering the compound of Al Aksa Mosque. Haaretz, an Israeli news outlet, reported on its website that the police had turned back dozens of young Palestinians who were trying to break through a blockade outside the Old City, and eight Palestinians were said to have been injured in clashes with the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah. | |
| As of noon, there were no soldiers or police officers visible in Shuafat, the East Jerusalem neighborhood where Muhammad was snatched around 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday as he awaited the dawn prayer and pre-fast meal, and where he will be buried. | |
| The main road was still littered with broken glass, stones, felled traffic lights and garbage from overturned bins after the violent confrontation on Wednesday between Palestinians and Israeli troops. Mourners and journalists had begun to gather outside Muhammad’s home under a blue tarpaulin strung with portraits showing his brown eyes beneath a white baseball cap. | The main road was still littered with broken glass, stones, felled traffic lights and garbage from overturned bins after the violent confrontation on Wednesday between Palestinians and Israeli troops. Mourners and journalists had begun to gather outside Muhammad’s home under a blue tarpaulin strung with portraits showing his brown eyes beneath a white baseball cap. |
| A banner with a different photo, where Muhammad wore a shy smile and the sides of his head were shaved, called him “the martyr of the dawn,” and said in Arabic, “Our martyrs in heaven and their dead in hell.” | A banner with a different photo, where Muhammad wore a shy smile and the sides of his head were shaved, called him “the martyr of the dawn,” and said in Arabic, “Our martyrs in heaven and their dead in hell.” |
| Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israel Police, said Friday that the investigation into Muhammad’s murder was continuing, to “determine if the incident was criminal or nationalistic.” Muhammad’s relatives have complained that the police were pressing a theory that the killing resulted from a family fight, and that officers were questioning various members of the family about their involvement. | Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israel Police, said Friday that the investigation into Muhammad’s murder was continuing, to “determine if the incident was criminal or nationalistic.” Muhammad’s relatives have complained that the police were pressing a theory that the killing resulted from a family fight, and that officers were questioning various members of the family about their involvement. |
| “The police know very well that those who killed my son were Jews, and they have their pictures” from security cameras, Muhammad’s father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, 48, said as he awaited the arrival of his son’s body on Friday. “It is clear from their faces that they were Jews.” | “The police know very well that those who killed my son were Jews, and they have their pictures” from security cameras, Muhammad’s father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, 48, said as he awaited the arrival of his son’s body on Friday. “It is clear from their faces that they were Jews.” |
| Mr. Abu Khdeir said that he expected the police to bring the body from the forensics lab where the autopsy was conducted to the mosque across the street from his home by 1:30 p.m. on Friday. He said he was unsure whether the traditional ritual washing would be performed because the body had been badly burned. Ishak Abu Khdeir, Muhammad’s uncle, was to deliver a eulogy, and the governor of Jerusalem was scheduled to attend the service, followed by a procession about 500 yards to the cemetery. | Mr. Abu Khdeir said that he expected the police to bring the body from the forensics lab where the autopsy was conducted to the mosque across the street from his home by 1:30 p.m. on Friday. He said he was unsure whether the traditional ritual washing would be performed because the body had been badly burned. Ishak Abu Khdeir, Muhammad’s uncle, was to deliver a eulogy, and the governor of Jerusalem was scheduled to attend the service, followed by a procession about 500 yards to the cemetery. |