Palestinians march, shops close as prisoner dies in Israel

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Hundreds of Palestinians, including dozens of masked gunmen firing into the air, took to the streets and stores shuttered across the occupied West Bank to protest the death of a veteran prisoner in Israeli captivity. Palestinian factions had called for the general strike and urged people to confront Israeli troops after Nasser Abu Hamid died of lung cancer. Hamid had spent 20 years in prison after being convicted in the deaths of seven Israelis. Prisoners held by Israel are widely respected in Palestinian society, where they are seen as resisting an open-ended Israeli occupation.