Thousands of Israelis late Monday night attended the funeral at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv for Barel Hadaria Shmueli, 21, the Border Police officer who was shot in the head last week during violent riots at the border with Gaza. Shmueli succumbed to his wounds earlier in the day after hanging between life and death for a week, which included several surgeries. Prayers on his behalf were recited throughout Israel and around the world.
Shmueli was wounded on Aug. 20 as Gazans rioting at the border pushed toward the security fence. One of the Palesitnians took out a gun and fired three shots through a hole in the fenceat point-blank range, hitting Shmueli in the head.
“Today we parted with the child who sacrificed his life to protect us and be the best man he can be,” Shmueli’s parents said in a statement. “Barel, we may be saying goodbye but we will never forget you. It was a privilege to know you and a shame we didn’t have more time.”
The family has decried the security situation for the troops at the border and called for an investigation into the incident.
“There are no words sufficient to comfort the family in its deep mourning,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. “Barel was a fighter in his life and in his death. He fought for his life until the last moment, as all of Israel prayed for him. I would like to embrace the family, which has lost what was most precious to it. May Barel’s soul be bound in the chain of life.”