World leaders to attend Shimon Peres' funeral on September 30

World leaders including US President Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prince Charles and French President Francois Hollande are expected to attend the funeral of former President of Israel, Shimon Peres, on Friday.

The funeral ceremony of Peres, who passed away on Wednesday, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke, will take place on Friday afternoon at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. 

From Thursday, Peres’ coffin will be lying in state at the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) for the public to pay their respects. The Embassy of Israel in New Delhi will open a condolence book on Thursday afternoon, Friday and next week on Wednesday and Thursday. 

The Israeli flag at the Embassy has been lowered to half-mast. Shimon Peres death triggered an outpouring of emotional tributes from around the world.

Peres, 93, who twice served as prime minister of Israel and later as the country’s ninth president, suffered severe organ failure on Tuesday as well as irreversible brain damage caused by the massive hemorrhagic stroke he sustained on September 13.

An ardent admirer of India, Peres often hailed the country as the “greatest democracy on earth” and even backed a permanent seat for it at the UN Security Council. Peres had been hospitalised at the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer since suffering the stroke. He died in his sleep at around 3:00 am.