HEBRON: Palestinian protesters clashed with soldiers after thousands of mourners turned out for the funerals of a 64-year-old cancer-stricken prisoner and two teenage boys shot dead by the Israeli military, the latest sign of the increasing turbulence across the West Bank.

Meanwhile Gaza militants fired rockets towards Israel for the third consecutive day in a move that threatens to trigger a fresh cycle of violence after almost five months of calm since the eight-day war last November.

Following two Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight on Wednesday, the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, warned that the country would not tolerate renewed rocket fire. “If the quiet is violated we will respond strongly,” he said.

The unrest in the West Bank and resumed rocket fire from Gaza will complicate efforts by the US secretary of state to bring both parties back to the negotiating table after more than two and a half years without talks. John Kerry is due to arrive in the Holy Land at the weekend, which follows Barack Obama’s visit last month, during which the US president called for peace.

Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, who died on Tuesday, three days after being transferred from an Israeli prison to hospital, was given a military funeral in his home town of Hebron, one of the most volatile cities in the West Bank.

Abu Hamdiyeh, a former senior figure in the Palestinian security forces, had been serving a life sentence for his involvement in the attempted bombing of a Jerusalem cafe. Palestinian leaders accused Israel of medical negligence for failing to provide him with prompt and adequate treatment.

Thousands of mourners packed into the streets around the Abu Aisha mosque before carrying Abu Hamdiyeh’s body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag with his head swathed in a black and white keffiyeh, to the Shuhada (martyrs’) cemetery.

Mourners jostled to kiss Abu Hamdiyeh’s face or touch his shroud as his body was lowered into its grave and masked gunmen fired over the crowd.

Echoing claims of Israeli negligence, Itidal Abu Hamdiyeh, the sister of the dead prisoner, said her brother had been shackled to his bed when dying “even though he could not move his body” and had only been given pain-relief medication despite the cancer diagnosis.

“My brother is a symbol because he worked in the resistance since he was a young man, for about 45 years,” she said.

After the funeral Palestinian youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers close to an extremist Jewish settlement in the heart of the city. The Israeli military responded with teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets. Abdullah al-Nashe, 13, whose eyes were streaming as a result of teargas, said he was angry at Hamdiyeh’s death and hoped throwing stones would bring change.

Ahmed Slemeh, 18, wearing a black balaclava, said: “The Israelis have killed one of us and we have to resist back. But if we want to achieve our political objectives we have to go on with an intifada [uprising]. I hope this gets bigger.”

Referring to the land of historic Palestine, he added: “What was taken by force is recovered only by force.”

In the northern West Bank hundreds of people took part in the funerals of Amer Nasser, 17, and Naji Belbisi, 18, from the village of Anabta. According to the Israeli military, the pair was shot while hurling molotov cocktails at an army checkpoint close to a nearby settlement.

Israeli intelligence has been warning for months that the mood in the West Bank is increasingly frustrated and volatile, and another intifada could erupt.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, blamed Israel for the clashes. “It seems that Israel wants to spark chaos in the Palestinian territories,” he said. “From the beginning we have said we want stability and calm. Despite that, Israel on every occasion is using lethal force against peaceful young protesters, and peaceful demonstrations are being suppressed with the power of weapons. This is not acceptable at all.”

The Foreign Office said: “We are deeply concerned about the deaths of two Palestinian teenagers in the West Bank. It is a tragedy when any young person’s life is cut short.

“We urge the parties to take steps towards de-escalation and to exercise restraint. We expect a full investigation.”

By arrangement with the Guardian