Palestinians mourn Israel’s illegal creation

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Palestinians rallied on Sunday to mark the "Nakba," or catastrophe, 74 years after Israel’s illegal creation, with condemnation spreading over a police raid on the funeral of a slain journalist.

The annual demonstrations across the occupied West Bank, annexed east al-Quds and inside Israel came with tensions high over the killing of 51-year-old Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.

The Palestinian-American was shot dead on Wednesday during an Israeli raid in Jenin, a West Bank flashpoint. A Palestinian militant wounded in clashes there, Daoud al-Zubaidi, died from his injuries in an Israeli hospital Sunday.

Israeli police have vowed to investigate the chaos that marred the day of Abu Akleh’s funeral, after television footage seen worldwide showed pallbearers struggling to stop the casket from toppling to the ground as baton-wielding police descended upon them, grabbing Palestinian flags.

The scenes on Friday sparked international condemnation, including from the United States, United Nations and the European Union, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday calling for a "credible" investigation into Abu Akleh’s death as he offered condolences to her family.

Late South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s foundation said Israeli police "attacking pallbearers" was "chillingly reminiscent of the brutality" seen at the funerals of anti-apartheid activists.

Al Jazeera on Sunday posthumously aired a piece produced by Abu Akleh on the Nakba, which marks Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence. A highly respected reporter, she was killed while wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest marked "Press".

Abu Akleh’s posthumously aired piece retraced the fate of the Palestinian people since 1948, with a particular focus on refugees and the displaced. More than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the Israel’s illegal creation on Palestinian land 74 years ago.