BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to help prevent violence after a day of unrest in the West Bank was triggered by the death of a Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody on Saturday.

After 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat died in Megiddo prison, violent clashes were reported yesterday between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers near the West Bank cities of Hebron, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Netanyahu appealed to the PA leadership through his envoy Yitzhak Molcho to “keep the peace and quiet, maintain law and order, and prevent violence.” In addition, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Eitan Dangot reportedly spoke several times yesterday with PA Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, urging him to do everything possible to maintain calm. However, unrest is expected to continue today with Jaradat’s funeral scheduled to take place later this morning.

According to Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, Jaradat was arrested last Monday following his involvement in a stone-throwing incident in the Hebron area, which injured an Israeli. Israeli officials said that Jaradat died of a sudden heart attack on Saturday, but PA Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqi claimed that Jaradat had been tortured, accusing Israel of a “cruel crime.” An Israeli autopsy of Jaradat’s body was carried out in the presence of a Palestinian official and members of Jaradat’s family. Israel’s Health Ministry issued a statement saying that marks on Jaradat’s body were the results of resuscitation efforts, while Dr. Saber Aloul, director of the Palestinian Forensic Medicine Institute who was present at the autopsy claimed that the markings showed Jaradat had been beaten.

Yesterday’s violence follows widespread Palestinian demonstrations in the West Bank last week, which demanded the release of four hunger-striking Palestinians held in Israeli detention.