RAMALLAH
A Palestinian medical official has said that the death on Wednesday of senior Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein was not the result of natural causes but the result of injuries sustained during the dispersal of an anti-Israel demonstration.
Saber al-Aloul, the head of the Palestinian forensic authority, told reporters in Ramallah that an autopsy had revealed that Abu Ein had sustained a severe face injury in which his front teeth were broken and his tongue badly bruised.
The autopsy had also revealed bruises on Abu Ein's neck, along with signs of teargas inhalation, said al-Aloul, who is currently leading a fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the official's death.
Al-Aloul went on to attribute Abu Ein's death primarily to internal bleeding of the coronary artery, which, he said, had been a consequence of "severe trauma."
Israeli military spokesman Ofir Gendelman said on Twitter that Abu Ein had suffered from a severe heart disease and that his death had been the result of a blocked coronary artery.
Abu Ein, who had been in charge of the Israeli settlements file for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), died Wednesday when Israeli troops dispersed an anti-occupation demonstration – in which he had been taking part – in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya.
Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hassan al-Sheikh, citing the findings of a group of Arab doctors, said that Abu Ein had died after being beaten by Israeli troops, exposed to excessive amounts of teargas, and prevented by the Israeli army from reaching a hospital in a timely manner.
He added that the Palestinian authorities had conducted the autopsy in an East Jerusalem university hospital on Wednesday night after having refused to allow an Israeli medical center to perform the procedure.
An Israeli doctor, al-Sheikh noted, had also attended the autopsy.
On Thursday afternoon, a military funeral was held in the West Bank for Abu Ein, who had held a rank within the PLO equivalent to that of minister.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, for his part, has described the Israeli attack on the demonstration in which Abu Ein had been taking part as "barbaric," declaring a three-day mourning period for the slain official.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, has since pledged to "review" the circumstances of Abu Ein's participation in the protest and his subsequent death.
www.aa.com.tr/en
