Palestinians demonstrate for the return of the bodies of those killed by the Israeli army

Tear gas fumes hang in the air at the Qalandia checkpoint, south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, as Israeli soldiers clash with demonstrators demanding the return of the bodies of Palestinians being held by Israel.

Protests are taking place across the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza in response to calls made by the mother of a cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee who died in Israeli custody.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gant said that Israel would not return the body of Nasser Abu Hamid after announcing his death last week, in line with a long-standing Israeli policy of withholding the bodies of dead Palestinians.

"We want our sons" says Latifa Abu Hamid, whose son, Nasser, was one of those killed and whose body is being held, "I want to bury him, I want to see him, me and his brothers want to hold him."

"I want my son's body and the body of all the detainees. We want to honour them and bury them in Palestinian ground," his mother told reporters.

She was speaking at the starting point of the demonstration in Am'ari camp, east of Ramallah.

"I swear, I swear, I will never forgive anyone ... My son was suffering for a year."

He was serving seven life sentences and 50 years for his role in the 2001 second uprising against Israeli occupation, dubbed the second intifada.

Local media said Mr Abu Hamid was the co-founder of the ruling Fatah party's armed wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.