The Palestinian Authority knows full well that the prisoner Maysara Abu Hamdiya, a resident of Hebron who died of cancer Tuesday morning, did not become ill because of Israeli abuse. It is reasonable to believe that the PA leadership in the West Bank assumes that the last prisoner who died in jail at the end of February, Arafat Jaradat, did not die as a result of being tortured. And yet, in both cases, PA President Mahmoud Abbas publicly accused Israel of playing a part in the prisoners’ deaths.

In the Jaradat case, Israel was explicitly accused of torture. On Tuesday the PA said Israel should have released Abu Hamdiya because of his illness, though the Israel Prison Service says the release procedure had indeed begun before Abu Hamdiya’s death.

The PA does not wish to ignite a third intifada in the territories, but its leadership has an interest in making public accusations against Israel.

Read this article in full at Haaretz