An autopsy on a Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli custody showed he expired from torture, Palestinians said Sunday, even as Israel said the claim was premature and that it was still too early to determine the exact cause of death.
Arafat Jaradat had collapsed in the Megiddo prison, in northern Israel, on Saturday after complaining of feeling unwell.
His death sparked clashes throughout the West Bank Sunday and led thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails to embark on a day-long hunger strike in a show of solidarity.
The chief pathologist of the Palestinian Authority, Saber Aloul, who attended the autopsy in Israel, told a Ramallah news conference that marks on Jaradat's body showed he had been tortured after being arrested one week ago for participating in a rock-throwing attack
which injured an Israeli citizen.
He had not died of heart failure, as was claimed in Israel, Aloul said.
But Israel's Ministry of Health issued a statement saying the body had borne no visible marks, save for resuscitation signs and a small graze.
"The initial findings cannot determine the cause of death," the statement said, adding that the reason Jaradat died would not be known until the microscopic and toxicology reports are received.
Jaradat's body was handed over to his family Sunday evening local time. He will be buried Monday. Israeli authorities fear his funeral could spark clashes with troops, similar to those witnessed on Sunday.
As the violence raged in the West Bank, Israel sent an urgent appeal to the Palestinian Authority for calm, but to no avail.
The protests were initially concentrated in the Hebron area, from where Jaradat hailed, but also spread to other areas.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said hundreds of Palestinians in Jaradat's home village of Kfar-Sa'ir burned tyres in the street and threw rocks at soldiers, who responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
Clashes also took place in the village of Beit Omer and the Arroub refugee camp, both located along a road used by Israeli settlers.
The protests there focused mainly on trying to block the road with rocks and burning tyres, as well as pelting soldiers with stones, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets back. One demonstrator was lightly wounded by a rubber bullet, the spokeswoman said.
In the northern West Bank, two protesters - one of them reputedly the son of a Palestinian military commander - were injured seriously near the Ofer prison near Ramallah. Two more were also reported to be seriously injured further north, near Nablus and Jenin.
In Hebron and Ramallah, shops were closed for the day.
Amid fears that the violence - coupled with almost daily demonstrations in support of other hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners - could spiral out of control and spark a third Palestinian
uprising, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a message to the Palestinian Authority (PA) demanding it help maintain order.
A senior Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told dpa that Netanyahu aide Yitzhak Molcho had told Palestinian officials they were responsible for maintaining the peace.
In a conciliatory gesture, Israel agreed to release to the PA 100 million dollars in tax revenues it had collected on its behalf, so that Palestinians could have no excuse for not complying with the Israeli request, the official said.
The Palestinian Authority is holding Israel responsible for his death. PA Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Qaraqi called upon the Authority to join the Fourth Geneva Convention so that it can file official complaints against Israel.
B'tzelem, a human rights group, has called for an investigation into Jaradat's case.
Jaradat's death comes as Palestinians have been holding daily and often violent demonstrations in solidarity with four-hunger striking prisoners.
Two of the hunger-strikers - Ayman Sharawneh and Samer Issawi, who has been refusing solid food for more than 200 days - were released in the October 2011 prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel. They were rearrested a year later for violating the terms of the deal.
Two others, Tareq Qadan and Jafar Izzidin, have been refusing to take food for more than 90 days. Izzidin was transferred to an Israeli civilian hospital in serious condition, Palestinian attorney Jawad Boulus said.