WEST BANK: Thousands march in funeral for Islamic Jihad leader killed by Israeli forces

Record ID: 565177

  • Title: WEST BANK: Thousands march in funeral for Islamic Jihad leader killed by Israeli forces
  • Date: 25th October 2005
  • Summary: (BN10) TULKARM, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 25, 2005) (REUTERS) BODY OF ISLAMIC JIHAD COMMANDER LOAI ASSADI BEING CARRIED THROUGH STREETS IN FUNERAL PROCESSION THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS MARCHING IN FUNERAL PROCESSION PALESTINIANS CARRYING ASSADI'S BODY ASSADI'S BODY BEING CARRIED THROUGH STREETS / CROWD CHANTING CROWDS MARCHING IN FUNERAL WIDE OF YOUNG WOMEN MARCHING IN FUNERAL PROCESSION MOURNERS CARRYING ISLAMIC JIHAD FLAGS, MARCHING IN PROCESSION
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8N8AT8HHU8ZUJSVBCZ23MCDGD
  • Story Text: Thousands marched on Tuesday (October 25) in the funeral of Islamic Jihad Commander Loai Assadi who was shot dead by Israeli troops on Monday (October 24).
    Assadi was accused of masterminding suicide bombings that killed 10 Israelis since a fragile ceasefire was declared in February.
    Assadi's family, friends and members of Islamic Jihad marched in the funeral procession which snaked its way through the streets of Tulkarm.
    The Israeli army said soldiers raiding the town of Tulkarm targeted Assadi because he had been planning further attacks. The inside of a house was found spattered with blood after a fierce gun battle.
    It was the latest flare-up of violence threatening to unravel a frayed ceasefire and undermining hopes that Israel's Gaza pullout last month, after 38 years of occupation, could revive peacemaking.
    Twenty-six year old Assadi was a senior West Bank leader of Islamic Jihad, a group sworn to Israel's destruction.
    Though Islamic Jihad had declared to President Mahmoud Abbas its commitment to maintain the "calm" until the end of the year, its Gaza-based leader Mohammad Al-Hindi said calm did not prevent its members from responding to offensives by Israel. But Israel maintains it has the right to target "ticking bombs".
    Israeli officials say Assadi was behind two suicide bombings this year, one that killed five people at an Israeli shopping mall in the coastal city of Netanya in July and another that killed five Israelis outside a Tel Aviv nightclub in February.
    The army said Assadi planned to send a suicide bomber into Israel in coming days.
    The army has made frequent raids into Tulkarm and other major West Bank cities and towns during a five-year-old uprising.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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