West Bank tensions flare after Palestinian detainee's death
Israel has called for a stop to anti-Israeli protests in the West Bank. Palestinians are angered by the death of a detainee who Israeli officials say died of a heart attack in an Israeli prison Saturday. Palestinian officials have called for an investigation into the death.
Palestinian women take part in a protest against the death of a Palestinian detainee in an Israeli jail, in Gaza City February 24. Palestinian officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli jail hours earlier. Tensions have been especially high in the West Bank.
Suhaib Salem/Reuters
Jerusalem
Israel on Sunday demanded the Palestinian Authority stem a surge of anti-Israeli protests ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to the region next month.
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A senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave no indication the Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, would issue any call for calm, and blamed Israel for the spike in unrest.
The death in an Israeli jail of a Palestinian detainee on Saturday and an on-going hunger strike by four inmates have fuelled tensions in the West Bank, where stone-throwing protesters clashed again with Israeli soldiers on Sunday.
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Some 3,000 prisoners held a one-day fast on Sunday after the detainee's death, which Israel said was caused by a heart attack, an explanation challenged by Palestinian officials.
"Israel has conveyed to the Palestinian Authority an unequivocal demand to calm the territory," an Israeli government official said, adding the message was delivered by one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top aides.
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