Thousands protest in West Bank; rocket hits Israel

HEBRON, West Bank — Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in the West Bank in a show of anger Thursday over the deaths of two Palestinian protesters killed in clashes with Israel and a third Palestinian who died of cancer in an Israeli prison. In Gaza, militants fired a rocket that landed in southern Israel, causing no casualties.

The unrest has heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestinians after days of West Bank clashes and rocket fire into southern Israel, prompting the first Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip since a cease-fire was reached in November. Israel has vowed to respond harshly to further attacks from Gaza.

In the West Bank city of Hebron, thousands of people turned out for the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, a 64-year-old prisoner who died earlier this week from throat cancer while in Israeli custody. The Palestinians have blamed Israel for Abu Hamdiyeh's death, saying he did not receive proper medical care. He had been serving a life sentence for his involvement in an attempted bombing of a busy Jerusalem cafe in 2002.

Abu Hamidiyeh's body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, was paraded on a stretcher in a military funeral to a Hebron mosque, where prayers were held. Thousands of people waited outside the mosque to take the body for burial.

The Israeli military reported clashes with Palestinian protesters elsewhere in Hebron, Bethlehem, and on a main road in the northern West Bank. The military said it fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, and no major injuries were reported.

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