Jerusalem – Thousands of people participated in the funeral of a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager who was murdered this week in an apparent revenge attack in Jerusalem.

Mohammed Abu Khdair was kidnapped in the early morning hours on Wednesday near his home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Shuafat. Police later found his burned body in a Jerusalem-area forest.

The murder has been portrayed as revenge for the killing of three teenage Jewish settlers, who were kidnapped last month outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

On Friday, after several delays, the Israeli authorities released Abu Khdair’s body to his family for burial.

Israeli police maintained a heavy presence in the neighbourhood ahead of the funeral. Palestinian mourners were trying to reach Al Aqsa mosque, but were stopped by the Israeli police firing tear gas and rubber-coated, steel bullets.

The ensuing clashes continued into the late afternoon on Friday, and a total of 73 people were injured, the Palestinian Red Crescent told Global News Insight.