Israeli police brutally attacked on Friday the funeral convoy carrying the body of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in occupied East Jerusalem.

Baton charges, tear gas, and horses were used by Israeli police against the mourners as they carried the coffin of Abu Akleh through Jerusalem from the hospital to her place of burial.

Gunfire and screams could be heard in a live stream of the funeral as pallbearers struggled to keep the coffin upright.

Police attacked with clubs the youth mourners insisting on carrying the coffin, draped in a Palestinian flag, on their shoulders to the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin in the Old City, where her funeral is set to take place, beating them mercilessly and showering them with skunk water before ultimately allowing a funeral vehicle to carry the coffin without being accompanied by the extraordinary number of mourners.

Veteran reporter Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead by Israeli forces while covering a raid at the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp for Al Jazeera on Wednesday despite wearing a press vest clearly identifying her as a member of the media.

Her death has shocked Palestine and led to a global outpouring of criticism of Israel's targeting of journalists.

Thousands of mourners are attending the funeral service, before Abu Akleh is taken to the Mount Zion Cemetery, where she will be buried alongside her deceased parents in the next few hours.