Palestinian resistance group Hamas offered its condolences for the death of a Palestinian official who passed away after inhaling teargas fired by Israeli army troops during the dispersal of a West Bank protest earlier Wednesday.
“Hamas offers its condolences for the death of Palestinian martyr Ziad Abu Ein, who had been in charge of the Israeli settlements file at the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and extends its sympathy to his family,” group spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.
Abu Zuhri called for “uniting all Palestinian forces to confront violations committed by the Israeli occupation.”
He also called on the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to halt all security coordination with the Israeli authorities.
Abu Ein, a high-ranking PLO official (whose portfolio was equivalent to that of government minister) and a senior member of the Palestinian Fatah movement, suffocated after being exposed to excessive teargas used by Israeli troops to disperse a Palestinian protest in the northern West Bank town of Turmus Ayya.
Dozens of other demonstrators suffered temporary asphyxiation after inhaling teargas fired by Israeli army troops.
Abu Ein was rushed to the Ramallah medical complex in critical condition where he was soon pronounced dead, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent.