SAEER (Palestine), Feb 25: A Palestinian man who died in Israeli custody was given a hero’s funeral on Monday, with thousands thronging his gravesite and Palestinian police firing a 21-gun salute. Palestinian officials, citing an autopsy, say Arafat Jaradat was tortured during Israeli interrogation, while Israeli officials said more tests are needed to determine the cause of death.

The weekend death of the 30-year-old gas station attendant and father of two comes amid rising Palestine tensions that have prompted talk in Israel about the possibility of a new Palestinian uprising. There have also been daily protests in support of some 4,600 Palestinians by Israel. The fate of the prisoners is sensitive in Palestinian society, where virtually every family has had a member imprisoned by Israel. Detainees are held on a range of charges, from stone-throwing to deadly attacks, and are seen as heroes resisting Israeli occupation. Palestinian and Israeli officials traded accusations on Monday, each saying the other was trying to exploit the latest unrest for political gains.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel is trying to provoke the Palestinians with what he said are increasingly lethal methods by Israeli armed forces clamping down on Palestinian protests. “However they try to drag us to that place, we won’t be dragged,” said Mr Abbas. “We won’t be dragged, but they (Israelis) have to bear the responsibility.”

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev alleged that Mr Abbas’ government in the West Bank is inciting violence against Israel. Palestinian officials have called for more solidarity rallies for the prisoners. The harsher tones on both sides came less than a month before the expected visit of President Barack Obama to Israel and Palestine. A West Bank flare-up in the coming weeks would underscore the Palestinian argument that the US needs to step up as mediator. The Palestinians believe that without US pressure on Israel, there will be no progress in peace efforts.

Mr Abbas, an outspoken opponent of the shootings and bombings of the second Palestinian uprising a decade ago, has said he would not allow an armed uprising on his watch.

But tensions have been rising in recent days with a number of protests in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and then, the death of Jaradat over the weekend.

In Monday's funeral, thousands marched behind Jaradat’s body, draped in a Palestinian flag, as the procession snaked through his home town of Saeer, just north of the Palestinian city of Al Khalil.

Palestinian police maintained order and seven officers fired a 21-gun salute near the gravesite.

Abbas Zaki, a senior member of Mr Abbas’ Fatah movement, called Jaradat’s death an Israeli crime.    “I am telling Fatah members that our enemy only understands the language of force,” he told the crowd. He did not elaborate.

Jaradat was arrested on Feb 18 on suspicion that he had thrown stones at Israelis. He died on Saturday at Israel’s Megiddo prison, after several days of interrogation by the Shin Bet security service.    Israel’s forensics institute performed an autopsy on Sunday, in the presence of a physician from the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs, Issa Karake, said after being briefed by the Palestinian doctor that Jaradat was tortured. He said Jaradat was bruised over his body and suffered two broken ribs.

Jaradat’s brother, Mohammed, said he saw the body on Sunday and believed his brother was severely tortured.

Israel’s Health Ministry said the autopsy did not conclusively determine the cause of death, but that the bruising and broken ribs were likely the result of attempts to revive the detainee. It said more testing was needed.

The Shin Bet initially said Jaradat apparently died of a heart attack, though the Palestinian physician attending the autopsy was quoted as saying he did not find any evidence of that. An agency official has denied Jaradat was beaten.

Detainees have filed some 700 complaints about mistreatment and torture by Israel’s Shin Bet agents in the past, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.—Reuters