Palestinian prisoners begin hunger strike after Hamdiyeh’s death

Some 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails sent back their food on Wednesday morning as part of a protest launched following the death from cancer of a Palestinian inmate which the Palestinian Authority blamed on Israeli medical negligence.Palestinian prisoners declared a three-day hunger strike on Tuesday following the death of 63-year-old Maissara Abu Hamdiyeh, a Hamas member who was serving a life term, Israeli daily (The Jerusalem Post) reported.An autopsy of Hamdiyeh’s body was scheduled to take place Wednesday at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv in the presence of a Palestinian observer, the Israeli daily said, adding that the body will then be transferred to the Palestinian Authority for burial.Hamdiyeh’s funeral was scheduled to take place Thursday in his hometown of Hebron