‘Why do they provoke us?’: West Bank leader’s death brings grief – and anger

Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Fawaz Hamayel, in the West Bank village of Beita. Photograph: APAImages/Rex/Shutterstock

For many in Beita, a town of about 15,000 in the northern West Bank, the killing by Israeli security forces of Fawaz Hamayel last week has left a sense of being collectively orphaned.

“We lost the soul of Beita. He was everything for everyone,” said his nephew Ahmad, of the 47-year-old father of three who was a pillar of the tightly knit community.