PA security forces in Jenin fire stun grenades, tear gas at Khader Adnan commemoration march

Palestinian Authority security forces in Jenin on Tuesday attacked mourners marking the death of Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan.

PA security forces used batons, stun grenades, and tear gas to quell the march, local sources told The New Arab’s English-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, which came hours after Adnan died at an Israeli detention facility.

The march started at the Jenin refugee camp moving toward the town centre after prayers were held for Adnan, a leading figure in Islamic Jihad, the sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. Members of local armed resistance groups took part in the commemoration.

Armed men fired at the PA security services’ headquarters after the protest was attacked. PA security forces fired back and armed clashes ensued, the sources said.

Khader Adnan, 45, died on Tuesday on day 87 of a hunger strike in an Israeli prison.

He had been imprisoned by Israel several times, sometimes on what has been described as "terror-related charges", and other times without charge.

He undertook hunger strikes multiple times while in detention.

The Jenin Brigade - affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement - condemned the PA security forces for attacking marchers.

"For whose benefit is the march of Khader Adnan attacked?" the brigade asked in a statement.

"If you do not want to resist the occupier [Israel], and if your armoured vehicles, rifles, and sniper courses are not for the occupation, then leave us with the occupier and do not help them against us," they said.