WEST BANK: Palestinians bury the returned remains of a farmer killed by an Israeli airstike over a decade ago

Record ID: 564869

  • Title: WEST BANK: Palestinians bury the returned remains of a farmer killed by an Israeli airstike over a decade ago
  • Date: 23rd January 2014
  • Summary: TUBAS, WEST BANK (JANUARY 22, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FEMALE MOURNERS GATHERING FOR FUNERAL OF PALESTINIAN FARMER, ATTA SAMAHNA NIECE OF ATTA SAMAHNA, UM ADEL, BEING GREETED BY MOURNERS FEMALE MOURNERS GATHERING FOR FUNERAL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) WIFE OF ATTA SAMAHNA, SALMA SAMAHNA, SAYING: "Since they took him, there were air strikes, we did not know if he was alive or dead. We had 12 painful years. We now know he is a martyr, and we know he is not alive. " FEMALE MOURNERS GATHERING FOR FUNERAL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) NIECE OF ATTA SAMAHNA, UM ADEL, SAYING: "He was a farmer, they came to arrest the wanted people who were hiding in the farm. Thank God he is a martyr, he was kind, like a father and brother." VARIOUS OF FEMALE MOURNERS WAITING FOR COFFIN TO ARRIVE POSTER WITH PHOTOGRAPH OF ATTA SAMAHNA VARIOUS OF FEMALE MOURNER WAITING FOR COFFIN TO ARRIVE AMBULANCE CARRYING COFFIN ARRIVING COFFIN BEING REMOVED FROM AMBULANCE MOURNERS GRIEVING COFFIN BEING CARRIED FOR FUNERAL VARIOUS OF FUNERAL PROCESSION
  • Embargoed: 7th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA95D9BHJ5AT3489FHSK1YU67
  • Story Text: Hundreds joined a funeral procession in the West Bank village of Tubas on Wednesday (January 22), as the remains of a Palestinian farmer killed over a decade ago were finally laid to rest.
    Atta Samahna was killed after an Israeli air strike hit his farm, where he had been hiding Palestinian militants wanted by Israel.
    Israel has begun to exhume the remains of a number of Palestinian militants to return them to their families for burial, a move that could help ease some tension between the adversaries.
    Samahna's wife Salma said she had not known what had happened to her husband after the air strike.
    "Since they took him, there were air strikes, we did not know if he was alive or dead. We had 12 painful years. We now know he is a martyr, and we know he is not alive," she said on Wednesday as she waited for his body to be returned.
    Samahna's niece, Um Adel, spoke warmly of her Uncle.
    "He was a farmer, they came to arrest the wanted people who were hiding in the farm. Thank God he is a martyr, he was kind, like a father and brother," she said.
    Israel and the Palestinian Authority are currently locked in peace talks being mediated by the United States that are showing scant signs of progress.
    Israel has over many years interred the bodies of militants killed in attacks on Israelis at special cemeteries. It has returned them sporadically, usually as part of amnesties or prisoner exchanges.
    A Palestinian activist from a group that campaigns for the return of bodies said the remains of 36 militants would be handed over for reburial.
    An Israeli army spokeswoman declined to specify the number of bodies being returned or the identities of the dead and said the move followed an Israeli court ruling.
    In 2012, in a gesture aimed at helping to restart peace talks, Israel returned the remains of 91 Palestinian militants who it said had killed hundreds of Israelis over a period spanning four decades.
    As part of the current talks, which got under way in July, Israel has freed 76 Palestinians from detention, many of whom were accused of killing Israelis. It is set to release another 26 in the coming weeks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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