Authorities are temporarily refusing to return the body of the Palestinian terrorist who struck in Jerusalem last week to his family.
The remains of Ala Abu Dhaim, who was shot dead after gunning down eight students at Mercaz Harav yeshiva last Thursday, was to have been returned to his relatives this week for a funeral.
But police scrapped the handover after discovering that a large crowd, as well as the news media, was awaiting the body at the family home in east Jerusalem. No new date was immediately set.
While Abu Dhaim’s relatives have claimed to disavow his attack, the fact that Hamas and Hezbollah flags briefly flew outside their home and obituary posters refer to him as a “martyr” has raised hackles in the Jewish state.
Israel’s National Insurance Institute, which covers Palestinians in east Jerusalem, announced it would deny the Abu Dhaim family the state subsidies usually accorded to those who lose an income provider.
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