WEST BANK/GAZA: Palestinians bury prisoner killed in riots at Israeli jail and two boys killed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza

Hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank attend funeral of man who died from injuries sustained during riots at an Israeli prison, while two young Palestinian boys are buried in Gaza after they were killed by Israeli soldiers. Hundreds of Palestinians attended on Thursday (October 25) a funeral procession for a Palestinian prisoner who died two days earlier of injuries suffered during a riot at an Israeli jail. At least 30 people were injured in violent clashes at the prison in Israel's Negev desert after violence erupted between Palestinian prisoners and guards on Monday (October 22). The rioting took place when the guards were conducting a routine search for weapons in a tented complex housing 1,000 prisoners, a spokeswoman for the prison said. At least 15 guards and 15 prisoners were hurt in the riot, during which prisoners hurled rocks and torched tents. The spokeswoman said the guards used only "non-lethal" means to quell the violence, which lasted about an hour. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the prisoners involved were members of the Islamist group Hamas. Israel has released prisoners from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction in a likely attempt to bolster him against Hamas. The Islamist group seized control of the Gaza Strip after a brief civil war in June. Olmert and Abbas are scheduled to discuss Palestinian statehood at an upcoming U.S.-sponsored conference. Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip after a brief civil war in June, vowed revenge for the prisoner's death and said in a statement that attacks on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails may bring "painful choices" regarding the fate of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit was abducted last year by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid. Separately, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, scores of mourners walked in the funeral procession for two young Palestinian boys who were killed by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday (October 24). Hospital officials said the boys, aged 12 and 13, were in an area used by militants to fire rockets into southern Israel. Medics described them as civilians. An Israeli army spokeswoman claims Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians who had just launched rockets into Israel.

ITN Source | October 26, 2007

Tags:. .northern. .earlier. .choices. .attended. .sponsored