Hundreds participate in symbolic funeral for senior Hamas militant
Fuqaha's father Mohammad said he blamed Israel for his son's death.
By REUTERSHundreds participate in symbolic funeral for senior Hamas militant Fuqaha (credit: REUTERS)
Hundreds of Palestinians participated in a symbolic funeral on Saturday held in Tubas, West Bank, the hometown of a senior Hamas militant who was killed in the Gaza Strip.People waved Hamas flags during the funeral procession, chanting support for Mazen Fuqaha who was killed on Friday. Fuqaha's father Mohammad said he blamed Israel for his son's death.Earlier on Saturday, several thousands of Palestinians took part in Fuqaha's funeral march in Gaza city.An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the incident in the Hamas-run Palestinian coastal enclave.Fuqaha, 35, was sentenced in 2003 to nine life terms in prison for dispatching a suicide bomber during the second intifada who murdered nine Israelis on a bus in northern Israel.He was one of more than 1,0000 Palestinian prisoners released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Schalit prisoner swap, when the Shin Bet insisted that he and others would not be allowed to return to their West Bank homes and would be deported to Gaza.Yossi Melman contributed to this report.