Palestinian autopsy reveals he died from heart attack

Israeli and Palestinian officials issued conflicting accounts on Thursday over the results of an autopsy on a Palestinian minister who died after being shoved and grabbed by the neck by an Israeli policeman at a West Bank protest on Wednesday.

Hussein al-Sheikh, a top Palestinian official, told Reuters that Jordanian and Palestinian doctors involved in the late night examination of the body said Ziad Abu Ein, 55, had died from being struck, inhaling tear gas and not receiving prompt medical attention.

But an Israeli medical source familiar with the autopsy results told Reuters the minister died from a heart attack which may have been brought on by the stress of being grabbed by the neck.

Remembering Abu Ein in West Bank (Photo: AFP)

Ynet learned Wednesday that an Israeli representative joined the Palestinian and Jordanian autopsy team.

Abu Ein, a Palestinian Authority cabinet minister with responsibility for the settlements and the separation fence, collapsed and died in the afternoon hours of Wednesday.

Palestinian sources claimed the minister, who reportedly suffered from an unspecified illness and which could have played a role in his death, had been hit in the chest by the butt of a soldier's gun, and then collapsed. However the circumstances of his death remain unclear, and the possibility is being examined that the minister suffered a heart attack. Border Police force grabs Abu Ein (Photo: Reuters) A video from the incident shows Abu Ein sat on the ground after the clash, holding his chest - however, the reason why is still unclear. Palestinians claim that he had inhaled tear gas. The video is then cut off and footage from moments before his collapse are shown, in which Abu Ein gets up and walks towards an IDF jeep, where a confrontation develops between him and one of the soldiers. Abu Ein is later heard shouting in Arabic, 'this is the terrorism of the occupation, this is a terrorist army, practicing its terrorism on the Palestinian people,' he told the official Palestine TV. 'We came to plant trees on Palestinian land, and they launch into an attack on us from the first moment. Nobody threw a single stone.'

A military source said that Abu Ein had organized the protest, and that according to the plan, the demonstrators were to plant trees near Adei Ad, an Israeli outpost in the West Bank.

'Abu Ein arrived 20 minutes before the protest, in which the forces set up a line to prevent a confrontation. At some point a minor confrontation began. Suddenly we understood that someone had collapsed, the same man shown in the videos,' the source said, adding that a paramedic had offered to help him.

The IDF source stated that the issue is still under investigation, and that there is a need to question all soldiers involved in the incident.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Israel on Wednesday that 'all options are open' for a Palestinian response to the death earlier today of a senior Palestinian official, Ziad Abu Ein, after a confrontation with Israeli troops.

'What happened is a crime by all means, we cannot sit idle and silent (after) this crime,' CNN cited the Palestinian president as saying during an emergency session of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Palestinian President Abbas (Photo: Reuters) Abbas held up a photo of the Israeli officer grabbing Abu Ain's throat. Palestinians circulated the photo on social media under the hashtag #ICantBreathe - drawing a link to the chokehold killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in New York.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying that the prime minister had sent a message via his personal envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, to the Palestinian Authority, according to which Israel will investigate the incident that took place today near Ramallah.

The statement said that Netanyahu, who has been holding security consultations throughout the day, noted the need to calm the situation on the ground and act responsibly.

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) commander Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said that Abu Ein's body will undergo an autopsy attended by Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli pathologists.