BICOM

The Israeli army remains ready to respond to violent protests should they continue in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank today.  Demonstrations last week, demanding the release of four hunger-striking Palestinians held in Israeli detention, were compounded on Sunday when violent protests took place following the death of a Palestinian man, Arafat Jaradat, in Israeli detention on Saturday.

The results of an initial post-mortem have been disputed. Israel’s Health Ministry issued a statement saying the post-mortem indicated Jaradat had died from a heart attack, while Palestinian officials claim he had been tortured.

Jaradat’s funeral was attended by thousands yesterday in his home village of Sa’ir, north of Hebron, and was expected to be a flashpoint for more violence. Clashes did indeed break out in the West Bank, most seriously in the Bethlehem area and in total two IDF soldiers and eleven Palestinians including two teenagers were injured during the day. However, Israel Hayom reported that the unrest was less serious than Israeli security forces expected. Security evaluations were held throughout the day, involving Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.

Meanwhile yesterday in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the recent unrest, saying that Israel “wants anarchy by killing children” and warned that “they will have to bear responsibility.” Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented that “not violence but peace talks are what is needed” and urged the PA to “act responsibly” to “prevent incitement and violence that will only exacerbate the situation.”