Largest crowd since intafada pours into Hamas leader's funeral

By: Ahmad Hammadi

GAZA CITY: Shouting revenge, an estimated 100,000 Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza City on Friday to march in a funeral procession for a Hamas top leader Ismael Abu Shaneb.

As his green Hamas flag-shrouded body was carried aloft, a loudspeaker blared: “Abu Shaneb, rest in peace. Our armies will go forward. We are the men of the dark night.”

The gathering was one of the largest to turn out for a funeral of a Palestinian martyred by Israel since the intafada began nearly three years ago.

Ismael Abu Shaneb was martyred along with two of his bodyguards on Thursday when Israeli helicopters fired missiles into a car in Gaza City. After the attack, Hamas declared a seven-week-old truce dead.

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