The funeral of slain Palestinian teenager Mohammad Abu Khdeir in Shuafat. Photo by Lazar Simeonov.

Violent clashes broke out across East Jerusalem Friday afternoon following the funeral of the kidnapped and slain Palestinian teenager Mohammad Abu Khdeir.  

Thousands of Palestinians gathered outside the boy’s home in the Shuafat suburb of East Jerusalem Friday morning to receive the 16-year-old’s corpse. The mass procession carried the boy’s casket from the edge of the suburb, which has been rendered a 'closed area’ by Israeli forces for the last four days, toward the cemetery. Shortly after Abu Khdeir was laid to rest, clashes broke out between Palestinian youth and the Israeli border police. Friday marked the third straight day of violent clashes, which have left the usually quiet suburb looking more like a warzone than a middle class neighborhood. 

In the morning hours on Tuesday, Mohammad Abu Kdeir had risen early to go the mosque to pray. He never made it to the mosque. CCTTV footage shows what Abu Khdeir’s family believes to be three Israeli men forcing the boy into a car around 4 am. His charred corpse was found a few hours later ditched in a West Jerusalem forest. Initial autopsy reports show that the 16-year-old was burned alive.

The family believes Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and killed “in revenge” for the recent kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teens. The three youth were laid to rest just hours before Abu Khdeir was killed. 

“The direct cause of death was burns as a result of fire and it’s complications,” Palestinian Attorney General Mohammad Al-A’wewy was quoted as saying by Palestinian official news agency Wafa late Friday. 

“Fire dust material was found in Khdeir’s respiratory canal,” meaning he had inhaled the particles before he perished.  

Burns reportedly covered 90 percent of the surface of his body. Liquid and tissue samples were taken for more lab examinations in order to complete the legal medical report. 

Clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli police continued throughout the night on Friday across East Jerusalem, in one of the most widespread displays of hostility in Jerusalem since the end of the Second Intifada.