Palestinian killed by Israeli police in Jaffa; protesters fill streets

29 Jul

10:00 PM

Early Saturday, Israeli police shot and killed 20-year old Mahdi al-Saadi, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, near the Jaffa port, and moderately wounded another young man.

Police claim that the two tried to shoot at police from a motorcycle, but their families denied those claims. No police were injured.

Following the police killing, the Israeli police held the body of al-Saadi in custody, preventing the family from holding the funeral (Islamic custom requires a funeral to be held as quickly as possible after a death).

Hundreds of people gathered at the family home of al-Saadi, then marched to the Abu Kabir Detention Facility, where his body is being held.

Police say they are negotiating with the family for the release of the body.

At the same time, dozens of heavily-armored Israeli police lined up outside the detention facility where the protesters were gathered. Clashes broke out between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters, in which the Israeli police fired tear gas and concussion grenades at the crowd.

Four were arrested during the protest, including a leader with the Islamic Organization in Jaffa, Abdel-Qader Abu Shehada. Police took the four to the Yftah detention center, where they were subjected to interrogation, according to local sources.

The police arrested four young men, including a member of the Islamic Organization in Jaffa, Abdul Qader Abu Shehada, during the protests against the killing of Saadi, and took them to the police station ‘Yftah’ in the city, where Abu Shehada was arrested from the center of ‘Yvit’, following the clashes that erupted between Police and youths angry at Saadi’s death.

Al-Saadi is the third Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces in the past 24 hours. On Friday, a 24 year old man was killed at a military base south of Bethlehem, and a 16-year old boy was killed at a protest in Gaza.