Hawzah News Agency (Occupied Territories, Palestine) - Leaders from Palestine have reportedly vowed to raise funds in order to rebuild dozens of homes which were demolished by Israeli authorities this month in the central city of Qalansawe and in Umm al-Hiran in the southern Negev region.

The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens announced it would raise the funds required to rebuild the homes, as reported, a day after the committee held a rally attended by thousands in protest of the demolitions, particularly after Israeli police shot and killed an Umm al-Hiran resident during an evacuation raid on Wednesday. 

The committee also said protests would continue to take place in Palestinian cities, towns and villages throughout Occupied Territories, and that on Monday a protest convoy would drive from various Palestinian towns to the Israeli prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, where a protest rally would be held, according to the report.

The committee had successfully raised funds in the past to rebuild homes demolished by Israeli authorities, due to its “large network of support in Qatar, Turkey and other Arab and Muslim countries,” as well as its support from the European Union.

Meanwhile, Israeli news reported that as of Sunday, Israeli authorities were still withholding the body of Yaqoub Abu al-Qian, who was shot and killed in widely contested circumstances during clashes between Israeli police and protesters ahead of demolitions in Umm al-Hiran.

While numerous eyewitnesses have insisted Abu al-Qian was posing no threat to anyone when Israeli police opened fire at his vehicle, causing him to lose control of the car and ram into officers, Israeli authorities have claimed the local math teacher was carrying out a deliberate terrorist attack in the incident that left one policeman dead.