Thousands of Palestinians – among them masked gunmen – took to the streets of the West Bank for the funeral of a prisoner who died in an Israeli jail. His family says he was tortured while Israel claims it was a heart attack in what threatens to becomes a new uprising. ITV’s John Ray reports.
By Martin Fletcher, Correspondent, NBC News
TEL AVIV, Israel – For Israel, the good news on the West Bank was that in 2012 for the first time in 39 years terrorism claimed not one Israeli victim.
But in a region where events can overtake expectations with neck-snapping speed, that is not a sign of peace to come. The question occupying Israelis and Palestinians is: Has the third intifada begun?
For weeks Palestinians have been confronting Israeli troops in numerous areas of the West Bank, sometimes as a result of local grievances, sometimes sparked by attacks by Jewish settlers, and most recently, by the death in detention of a Palestinian, who Palestinian officials claim was tortured to death.
Arafat Shalish Jaradat, a 30-year-old Palestinian who was arrested for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, was arrested Feb. 18 and died in prison for no clear reason five days later. He is a Palestinian hero, a rallying call for angry young men and women.
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Palestine