A
Palestinian minister has died after a confrontation with Israeli troops at a
protest in the West Bank. Ziad Abu Ein died from complications related to tear
gas exposure. But
several witnesses said the minister had been hit and shoved by soldiers. One
said he had been hit in the chest by a tear-gas canister fired by them. Continue..
Israel's
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon expressed regret for the minister's death in a
statement.
A statement released by the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its forces had "halted the progress of
rioters into the civilian community of Adei-Ad using riot-dispersal
means".
"The
IDF is reviewing the circumstances of the participation of Ziad Abu Ein, and
his later death," it added.
Israeli and Jordanian
experts would attend a post-mortem examination, the IDF said. It has also
proposed setting up a joint team with the Palestinians to investigate Mr Abu
Ein's death.
UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon called for an investigation into the death, and urged "all
sides to exercise maximum restraint and avoid escalation".
Following the incident
dozens of Palestinians gathered at the scene, near the village of Turmusaya,
setting fire to tyres and throwing stones at security forces, Voice of Israel
radio reported.
In recent weeks, 10
Israelis and an Ecuadorean have been killed by Palestinians in a series of
attacks. Thirteen Palestinians have also been killed, among them several of the
assailants.
Confiscation
protest
Mr Abu Ein, a minister
without portfolio, was among dozens of foreign and Palestinian activists taking
part in a protest against land confiscations.
They had planned to
plant olive tree saplings on a patch of land near the Jewish settlement of
Shiloh, which Palestinians believe has been earmarked for annexation by Israel.
In the course of the protest,
they came into confrontation with a group of about 15 Israeli soldiers.
Leading
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Aloul, who was also at the protest, told the
Associated Press news agency that the soldiers had fired tear gas and had
beaten some of the activists with rifle butts.
At one
point, Mr Abu Ein was hit by a tear gas canister, Mr Aloul said.
The
Reuters photographer said he had seen Mr Abu Ein being struck by a hand on the
neck during an altercation with two soldiers.
An AFP
news agency photographer said the minister had been hit in the chest.
Photos of the incident
showed Mr Abu Ein lying unconscious before he was taken away in an ambulance.
He died before reaching hospital in the nearby city of Ramallah.
There are reports that
he had a health condition that may have contributed to his death.
The BBC's Kevin
Connolly in Jerusalem says Palestinians are likely to see the exact cause of
death as a secondary issue, and it will serve to sharpen tensions.
'Cruel
death'
Condemning "the
brutal assault" on Mr Abu Ein as a "barbaric act", Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas promised to take unspecified measures and
declared three days of mourning.
One senior Palestinian
official said the Palestinian Authority would halt security co-ordination with
Israel.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior
official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said that she was
"outraged" by the minister's death.
"It's
extremely sad that a colleague and an old friend has been killed in such a
cruel way" she said. "Ziad was guilty of nothing more than planting
olive trees where Israel would uproot trees."
Mr Abu
Ein once received the death sentence, commuted to life imprisonment, from a
court in Israel for a 1979 bombing that killed two Israeli teenagers.
He was
released in 1985 as part of a prisoner exchange that saw the release of three
Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon.
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