Diplomatic visit set to trigger more Palestinian violence

FEARS of a third intifada have grown as clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protestors around the occupied West Bank have escalated.

Confrontations have intensified in recent days after Palestinian authorities said a 30-year-old prisoner who died in an Israeli prison had been tortured.

The authorities rejected an earlier version by Israel that said he had died of a heart attack.

The prisoner, Arafat Jaradat, died during an interrogation with Israel's security agency, Shin Bet.

The chief pathologist of the Palestinian Authority, Saber Aloul, said after an autopsy that marks on Jaradat's body showed he had been tortured.

The Palestinian Authority's Minister for Prisoner Affairs, Issa Karaka, said: "The Israeli version about Jaradat's death is completely false."

Jaradat was detained last week on suspicion of throwing stones at Israelis. The claims of torture led to a surge in violence around the West Bank. Further confrontations were expected to occur following Jaradat's funeral overnight, in Hebron.

Pressure is growing for Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to address the Knesset about the situation.

The leader of the political party Meretz, Zehava Gal-On, said he needed to draw himself away from negotiations over a new coalition government following last month's election.

"While Netanyahu is wallowing in the swamp of coalition negotiations, the diplomatic freeze, which is his fault, continues, as do the failures of his government, which brought the territories on the verge of catching fire," she said.

Four Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are on hunger strikes and about 4000 other Palestinian prisoners yesterday indicated they may join them.

The new unrest comes four weeks before President barack Obama is due in Israel.

Israel Radio News last night said "senior officials in Israel" had criticised the government's decision last December to prevent the transfer of the tax funds that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which were supposed to pay Palestinian security personnel.

"The officials said that the (Israeli) security establishment warned of the scenario we are now witnessing and now the government is remembering belatedly to try to give the Palestinian security services an incentive to act against the riots," the bulletin reported.

Tensions in recent months have increased as Israel has announced growth in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which are regarded as illegal under international law.