The family of a 21-year-old man who the Lebanese authorities say was killed by Israeli fire when he and a group of others tried to cross the border fence with Israel held his funeral on Saturday, a day after he died.

The Israeli military said its tanks had fired warning shots at people who had damaged the fence. The incident took place during a protest on the Lebanese side to support Palestinians, amid a conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group which rules Gaza.

Members of his family, dressed in black and wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, gathered around the coffin of Mohamed Tahan in his home town of Adloun, in southern Lebanon, to bid farewell, Reuters images showed.

A large poster at the mourning ceremony was emblazoned with his picture, alongside a symbol of the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is a staunch opponent of Israel. The poster carried the words: “On the way to Al-Quds (Jerusalem).”

Protesters gathered again on Lebanon side of border with Israel on Saturday, waving Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.

The Lebanese army deployed in the area, setting up cordons to prevent protesters approaching a border wall that runs along that stretch of the boundary, although some protesters still managed move up close.

UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon that monitors the boundary with Israel, said on Friday it had launched an immediate investigation into the incident.

Reuters

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