Funeral held for Palestinian killed in Gaza
Jamal Mosleh, 20, is the 16th Palestinian to be killed since Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have held a funeral for a 20-year old killed by Israeli forces during a protest against US President Donald Trump‘s decision to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Jamal Mosleh was shot on Friday when the Israeli army opened fire at a rally on the Israel-Gaza border. He died of his wounds on Saturday morning, making him the 16th Palestinian to be killed since Trump made his declaration on December 6.
Reporting from Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb said that Mosleh, who was shot in the stomach, was one of 50 people at the protest injured by live ammunition. His funeral was funded by the Fatah political party.
“It is normal for the political factions and armed groups in Gaza whose leaders call for the young men to go to the border and protest, to fund the funerals of those who have been killed,” Webb said.
Funeral attendee Fayag Mosalam said Trump’s decision was “very bad for the Palestinian people”, noting: “The Americans are supporting Israel in our own land.”
For more than three weeks, Palestinians have protested on an almost daily basis to condemn Trump’s declaration, which has jeopardised the possibility of a two-state solution.
Over the past two decades, the Palestinian leadership has sought to establish a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
But Trump’s declaration, which also entails moving the US embassy from the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, puts a major dent in the Palestinian leadership’s plans for a sovereign state.
“Every Friday for the past month, [Palestinian] leaders have called on people to go to the border and protest,” Webb said. The Israeli army, he added, responds by firing “tear gas and some live bullets”.
Jerusalem’s religious significance to Islam, Christianity and Judaism makes it more than just a local issue. Rallies have taken place across major international cities, with tens of thousands of people urging Trump to rescind his decision.
At least 2,900 Palestinians have been injured since Trump’s announcement was made, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Some 500 people have also been arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied Palestinian territories.