Rival Palestinian groups clash at protest over activist’s death

Fights break out in Ramallah on fourth day of protests over death of Nizar Banat in Palestinian Authority custody.

Rival groups of Palestinians clashed in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday during a fourth day of protests over the death of Nizar Banat, an outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA) who died in PA custody. Nizar Banat, a 43-year-old activist from Hebron known for social media videos denouncing alleged corruption within the PA, died on Thursday after security forces stormed his house and violently arrested him. Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Ramallah, said fights broke out on Sunday between protesters calling for PA President Mahmoud Abbas to step down and a rival group demonstrating in support of the PA and Fatah, Abbas’s party that dominates the Palestinian Authority.