West Bank Funeral Held for Man Killed in Israeli Raid on Al-Bireh Home

Dozens of Palestinians gathered in the central West Bank city of Al-Bireh on Tuesday to bury a 54-year-old man who was fatally wounded during an Israeli army raid on his family home before sunrise, his brother said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the deceased as Ziad al-Yasini, a resident of Al-Bireh. Mourners carried his body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, through the streets and later gathered outside a mosque and at a cemetery for funeral rites. A poster honouring him was displayed during the procession.

His brother, Ramadan al-Yasini, described the raid in an account to journalists. He said troops entered the family home at about 4:10 am, blew open the door and asked him where Ziad was. He said he told them he did not know anyone by that name. A second force, he added, blew open the door of another family house opposite his own, and he then heard his brother's voice.

Ramadan al-Yasini said his brother was wounded and that the army summoned the Red Crescent. He alleged that soldiers locked the family inside with a key, preventing them from leaving or speaking to anyone, and told them to stay quiet when they tried to ask questions. He said a paramedic returned to the house after about half an hour to an hour and asked whether the injured man was close to him. He recounted telling the paramedic that his brother was hurt, and said the medic assured him the injured man would be fine. According to Ramadan al-Yasini, the paramedic already knew his brother had died by the time the soldiers left the house.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the raid or the killing.

Violence in the West Bank has been rising for months, with settlers attacking Palestinian villages and army operations carried out across the territory. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry, 101 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in the territory before Ziad al-Yasini's death.