Huge Turnout for Funeral of Boy Shot in West Bank Protest

"Oh martyr, rest in peace, we shall continue the struggle," the crowd of about 3 000 people chanted during the march from the city of Ramallah to the nearby village of Nilin where Ahmed Hammad Mussa was killed on Tuesday.

A dozen Israeli army vehicles were stationed at the entrance of the village, but there were no immediate incidents.

The boy was hit yesterday by a live bullet fired by Israeli soldiers during a demonstration in Nilin, according to organisers of the protest.

According to Khawaja, soldiers fired live rounds towards a group of protestors who had ran into Nilin after the army dispersed demonstrators outside the flashpoint village using rubber-coated bullets.

"A police investigation is under way into the unfortunate incident that led to the death of a 12-year-old child," said police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld.

"All the members of the unit who were present at the protest were questioned immediately after the incident," he said.

Hammad Hossam Mussa, believed to be around nine years old, was mortally wounded by an Israeli bullet as protestors threw rocks near the West Bank close to the village of Nilin.

The killing of the boy is the first such fatality since 2005, when a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was shot for getting too close to the fence in a protest.