Israel had just gotten beyond a major series of protests in the West Bank surrounding prisoner mistreatment and the occupied territory seems ready to explode again, as thousands of mourners flocked to the funerals of a prisoner who died in custody and two teens who died in a Wednesday protest.
The prisoner, Maysara Abu Hamdeya, died in an Israeli hospital where he was receiving treatment for cancer. Israel had promised to fast track him for release since he was deemed “terminal,” but he still died in custody. Palestinian officials have accused Israel’s prison services of negligence in the case.
The two teens, 17-year-old Amer Ibrahim Nassar and 18-year-old Naji Belbisi were both killed by Israeli troops during a protest at the military checkpoint outside of the town of Anabta. Israel’s military claims both were throwing “Molotov cocktails.”
The military is promising a further investigation into the killings of the Palestinian, but say their preliminary probe found that the troops acted appropriately with respect to their “rules of engagement” in the occupied West Bank. Incidents of Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian civilians almost never lead to any actual charges being filed, even if the rules of engagement were found to have been violated.