By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM 

Thousands of Muslims performed Friday prayers in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in Israel’s southern Negev Desert, which faces the threat of demolition by the Israeli authorities.

Palestinian resistance icon Raed Salah, who just finished a nine-month jail term in Israel for "inciting violence", delivered the sermon.

"Until now, we have been prevented from burying the martyr, Yaqoub," Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel’s northern branch, declared in his sermon.

"This is a crime," he added.

Salah was referring to Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan, a 49-year-old resident of Umm al-Hiran who was killed by Israeli police on Wednesday, when Israeli forces demolished several homes in the village on the pretext that they had been built without permits.

Israeli officials, for their part, allege al-Qiyan had been shot after running over -- and killing -- an Israeli soldier with his car.

Village residents and human rights activists, however, say al-Qiyan was gunned down by Israeli troops before he had run over the policeman.

Israeli police have offered to hand over al-Qiyan’s body on condition his funeral is held at night in the presence of only a small number of relatives -- a condition his family has rejected.