Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in the West Bank in a show of outrage Thursday over the deaths of two Palestinian protesters killed in clashes with Israeli occupied forces and a third Palestinian who died of cancer in an Israeli prison. The unrest has heighted tensions between Israel and the Palestinians after days of West Bank clashes and rocket fire into southern Israel, prompting the first Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip since a cease-fire was reached last November. Israel has vowed to respond harshly to further attacks from Gaza. In the West Bank city of Hebron, thousands of people turned out for the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, a 64-year-old prisoner who died earlier this week from throat cancer while in Israeli custody. The Palestinians have blamed Israel for Abu Hamdiyeh's death, saying he did not receive proper medical care. Abu Hamidiyeh's body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, was paraded on a stretcher in a military funeral to a Hebron mosque, where prayers were held. Thousands of people waited outside the mosque to take the body for burial. Speaking to top officials of the ruling Fatah party, President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for the violence, saying it is trying to divert attention away from a four-year standstill in peace efforts. "It seems that Israel wants to spark chaos in the Palestinian territories," he said. "From the beginning, we have said we want stability and calm. Despite that, Israel on every occasion is using lethal force against peaceful young protesters, and peaceful demonstrations are being suppressed with the power of weapons. This is not acceptable at all." Peace talks have been frozen for more than four years. Abbas has refused to negotiate while Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank and Al-Quds.
