Tiran Fero, a Druze teenager whose remains were abducted by terrorists from a West Bank hospital, was buried Thursday afternoon, hours after his body was handed over to his family.
On his 18th birthday, thousands of mourners attended Fero’s funeral procession in his Druze-majority hometown of Daliyat al-Carmel in northern Israel.
“It is incredibly sad that we are accompanying him to his final resting place instead of celebrating his big dreams,” Fero’s uncle Eddy said at the funeral, according to Channel 13. “We are now beginning to internalize this catastrophe. I hope our whole family can get through this catastrophe and grief.”
Fero’s uncle also pleaded for peace in his nephew’s eulogy. “We are a peaceful group,” he said of Israel’s Druze minority. “I ask everyone to behave peacefully after the funeral. No more people should be lost. Let’s get back to a quiet life.”
Addressing the mourners, Mayor Rafik Halabi described Fero as a lover of life with big plans for the future. “Rather than accompanying him to his wedding, we wrapped him in shrouds,” he said, echoing what Fero’s father said earlier Thursday about the painful irony of burying his son on his birthday.
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Fero suffered life-threatening injuries in a car accident in Jenin and was taken to a hospital in the Palestinian city on Tuesday. He died in Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, and later his body was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen, according to IDF and Palestinian media reports.
Family and friends mourn during Tiran Fero’s funeral procession in Daliyat al-Karmel, northern Israel, November 24, 2022. Photo (Shir Torem/Flash90)
Although his family claimed Palestinian gunmen disconnected him from life support when they took him from hospital, the military and a senior defense source insisted he was already dead when he was taken.
His body was handed over to his family in Israel early Thursday morning after being held by terrorists in the West Bank for about 30 hours. The body was reportedly handed over at the Salem border crossing near Jenin after intense negotiations between senior government and security officials from the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Tiran Fero. (decency)
Unnamed security officials said the suspects had demanded the release of Palestinians detained by Israel or the bodies of deceased Palestinian terrorists held by Israel in exchange for Fero, a high school student.
But Israel ended up giving nothing in return for the body, a senior defense source told reporters Thursday morning on condition of anonymity.
“We did not negotiate with those who held the body. We didn’t give anything for it,” the source said. “We have made it clear that this body will be returned to the family. The Palestinian Authority put pressure on it to end the saga quickly out of embarrassment, and in Jenin the kidnappers lost support after the public understood they would pay a heavy financial price.”
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
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