Dozens injured in mass West Bank protests

Dozens of Palestinians were injured yesterday as protests and clashes with Israeli soldiers erupted across the West Bank for the third day after the death of the 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat in an Israeli jail and a hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners. On Sunday, Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainee Affairs Issa Qaraqe said that Jaradat died after being tortured during interrogation by Israeli forces and demanded an international investigation into interrogation techniques used by Israel. In the latest clashes, hundreds of Palestinian protesters in several West Bank towns and villages hurled stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. Several mass protests were held across Hebron, in al-Arrub refugee camp, Beit Ummar and Halhul, and in Bethlehem, Qalqiliya and Tulkarem. In Beit Einun, in the Hebron district, a young man was shot in the head with a rubber bullet and hospitalized.