GAZA: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh condemns Israel for uprising in an Israeli prison which left one Palestinian dead, and prisoners and guards injured

Palestinians held demonstrations in Gaza throughout Tuesday (October 23), after a Palestinian prisoner died of his injuries suffered during a riot in an Israeli jail. At least 30 people were wounded in violent clashes between Palestinian prisoners and guards on Monday (October 22). The violence erupted when guards conducted a routine search for weapons in a tented complex housing 1,000 prisoners in Israel's Negev desert, a prisons spokeswoman 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. Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader who was prime minister in the Palestinian government Abbas declared void, condemned Israel for the prison riot. "We condemn the continued crimes against our people and the hero prisoners. At the same time, this policy will not break the will of those heroes, will not break the will of the Palestinian people and Palestinian factions," Haniyeh told Hamas supporters gathered at a large night rally in Gaza City. Haniyeh also spoke out against the U.S. sponsored Middle East summit expected to take place later this year. "It is clear that this conference primarily aims to create a large room for normalisation between the Arab countries and the occupation. The participation in this conference is not only unrealistic, but it is a kind of political illusion that is being sold to the Palestinian people," Haniyeh said to supporters. Hamas vowed revenge for the prisoner's death. Hamas spokesman Mushir Al Masri called for the release of more Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, saying that if more prisoners were not released, Hamas would seek to abduct more Israeli soldiers. "Our case is Gilad Shalit. He is still with Hamas and we will get more of Shalit's brothers," Al Masri said. Shalit was abducted last year by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid. Earlier on Tuesday evening, hundreds of Palestinians marched in a funeral for a senior Palestinian militant commander killed in an air strike in the central Gaza Strip earlier in the day. Israeli forces killed the militant in an air strike on a car in the central Gaza Strip, the Israeli army and a Palestinian militant group said. Witnesses said a missile destroyed the car in the attack, which took place on a coastal road in Hamas-run Gaza. Medical officials said one person was killed and one wounded. Palestinian militant umbrella group Popular Resistance Committees identified the dead man as one of its top commanders, Mubarak al-Hasanat, who it said also worked as a senior police officer in Gaza's Hamas-led police force. An Israeli army spokesman confirmed Israel had carried out a strike in Gaza targeting a 'senior terrorist in the infrastructure behind rocket attacks on Israel'. Israel regularly carries out air strikes inside the territory against Palestinian militants in an effort to curb the rocket attacks. Islamist group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June.

ITN Source | October 24, 2007

Tags:. .destroyed. .jails. .identified. .guards. .aims