Thousands attend funeral of 'executed' Palestinian

Thousands of people on Saturday attended the funeral of a Palestinian who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier while he lay wounded after an alleged stabbing attack in March.

Mourners carried the body of Abdul Fattah al-Sharif through the streets of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, before laying him to rest in the city's martyrs' cemetery.

At the time of Sharif's death, the Israeli military said two Palestinians stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier before troops shot and killed the pair.

However, a video of the March 24 killing in Hebron was released by human rights group B'Tselem, sparking an outcry.

It showed 21-year-old Sharif, lying wounded on the ground, apparently after being shot.

An Israeli soldier, later identified as Elor Azria, approaches the wounded Palestinian, then shoots him again, in the head, without any apparent provocation.

An autopsy determined the bullet to the head was the cause of death.

Azria has been charged with manslaughter and is currently standing trial.

A survey conducted after the killing by a national Israeli television channel showed 57 percent of Israelis opposed the arrest of the soldier.

An extra 42 percent rallied behind the soldier who they believed took "responsible" actions in shooting dead the severely injured Palestinian, while only five percent of Israelis surveyed described the extra-judicial killing as murder.

Israel has been accused of using excessive force against alleged Palestinian attackers, who have already been halted or wounded, and in some cases, of killing innocent civilians.

Activists have released a handful of amateur videos supporting these claims, but the Hebron shooting is perhaps the strongest evidence of Israeli wrongdoing so far.