Israeli soldiers yesterday shot and killed two Palestinians who were hurling firebombs at them, amid the outbreak of riots across the West Bank. Palestinians burned tires and threw rocks at IDF soldiers in outrage over the death of then-imprisoned Hamas terrorist Maysara Abuhamdia, who was serving a life sentence for his role in a 2002 terror plot to blow up a Jerusalem cafe.

Israeli officials tried to calm the situation by emphasizing that Israeli prisons are some of the most humane in the world and that “Palestinians who are imprisoned in Israel have access to excellent medical care, and are allowed visits by International Committee of the Red Cross officials, [and] prisoners in Palestinian Authority prisons do not enjoy such conditions.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas lashed out against the Israeli government and blamed Israel for the prisoner’s death by terminal esophageal cancer. Abbas is finding himself subject to increasing criticism for inciting violent Palestinian demonstrations.

[Photo: Noam Moskovich / The Israel Project]