Hundreds of Palestinians marched in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in the funeral of Hamas leader and former Minister of Social Affairs Ahmed Al-Kurd, 71, who died after a massive stroke.

The marchers attended the funeral prayers outside a mosque in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, before al-Kurd was buried in a nearby cemetery.

Representatives of Hamas movement and other national and Islamic groups attended the funeral, and some of them delivered speeches praising the deceased leader.

Al-Kurd was one of the most prominent leaders of Hamas movement who had served as a member of its political bureau and a minister of social affairs for the tenth government led by Ismail Haneyya.

Al-Kurd was the president of the Hamas-affiliated Salah Charitable Society. The organization has a school which has enrolled 1,000 orphans and other youngsters in Deir al-Balah. He led a coalition of charitable foundations in the Gaza Strip, had also served as a mayor of Deir al-Balah where he lived.

A father of 11, al-Kurd was born one year after his family fled from Ashkelon to the Gaza Strip following their displacement from their village in the 1948 Nakba.

Kurd was born in Deir al-Balah camp a year after his family of five to the Gaza Strip following their displacement from their village in the 1948 Nakba. That family now consists of 70 people, and Ahmad Kurd himself has 11 children with his Russian wife.

Kurd stated to the Washington Post, "I'm not asking to return to Ashkelon. I want to live in Deir al Balah, in a decent city, in an independent Palestinian state like other states. (ILKHA)