Palestinian convicted of murder dies in Israeli custody: officials

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: A Palestinian convicted over the killing of three Israelis died of cancer in custody Tuesday, officials said.

The death, which sparked Palestinian accusations of neglect, comes amid heightened tension with protests already scheduled in multiple places in the occupied West Bank Tuesday.

Israel´s Prison Authority said a seriously ill unnamed "security prisoner" died after being transferred to an Israeli hospital. Official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified him as Sami Abu Diyak, 36, saying he had suffered from terminal cancer and had been refused compassionate leave to be with his family.

He was arrested in 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising. The Prison Authority said he had been convicted for killing three people. The Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Commission said tensions were high in Israeli prisons following the death.