Prominent Palestinian hunger striker dies in Israeli custody

By ISABEL DEBRE and ILAN BEN ZION
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says that Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired a barrage of rockets following the death of a high-profile Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody after a nearly three-month hunger strike. Israeli airstrikes followed the rocket fire and a cease-fire has been reached early Wednesday. The death on Tuesday of 45-year-old Khader Adnan, a prominent leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group, has outraged Palestinian militants and leaders, and raised fears of an escalation. The Israeli military said that Palestinian militants in Gaza launched 26 rockets toward Israeli territory Tuesday, wounding three foreign nationals. Gaza-based Palestinian militant groups, led by the enclave’s Hamas rulers described the barrage as retaliation for Adnan’s death.