MIDDLE EAST: Funeral held in Jerusalem for an Israeli citizen killed in shooting attack near a West Bank Jewish settlement

Record ID: 1540112

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Funeral held in Jerusalem for an Israeli citizen killed in shooting attack near a West Bank Jewish settlement
  • Date: 26th December 2009
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (DECEMBER 25, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOURNERS CARRYING WRAPPED BODY OF MEIR AVSHALOM HAI, 45-YEAR-OLD JEWISH SETTLER WHO WAS KILLED IN SHOOTING ATTACK IN THE WEST BANK ON THURSDAY MOURNERS LOWERING BODY INTO GRAVE VARIOUS OF WOMEN CRYING MOURNERS LOWERING BODY INTO GRAVE
  • Embargoed: 10th January 2010 16:03
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3LVCV179TMBUEODXF1NFISH0Y
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Scores of Israelis attended the funeral on Friday (December 25) of a Jewish settler killed by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank on Thursday (December 24).
    The military said Meir Avshalom Hai, a father of seven, was killed when his car came under fire, either by a passing car or a roadside ambush, near the city of Nablus.
    "If you know the location as I do, all the blocking that was there was taken down, even if it was a barrack that was occupied with (Israeli) soldiers or only a blockade - everything was down and the prime minister was very proud of this fact that the Palestinians can now have a free way from Nablus to Tulkarem we can see that the freeway is a freeway for murderers also," said Ahron, a friend of Hai.
    Colonel Avi Gil, brigade commander in the area, told Reuters that the military has been removing checkpoints from West Bank roads in an effort to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians, but it would consider placing new ones if it would prevent similar attacks in the future.
    He said there had been 11 other shooting attacks in 2009 in the West Bank. Hai was the first Israeli fatality in a militant attack in the West Bank since April.
    Reports from rescue services said the driver, travelling alone outside the Jewish settlement of Einav, was shot in the head and his car flipped over after being fired upon.
    Palestinian witnesses said they had heard gunfire in the area of the incident. The Israeli military set up roadblocks outside the nearby Palestinian city of Tulkarem, witnesses said.
    Two Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for the attack.
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