GENEVA (AFP) -- The UN's human rights chief on Friday said the circumstances of the death of a senior Palestinian official while manhandled by Israeli soldiers this week were "disturbing" and called for a timely and impartial investigation. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein welcomed an investigation launched by the Israeli military into the death of Ziad Abu Ein in the West Bank on Wednesday. He said the probe needed to be "quick and utterly transparent if people are to have faith in its findings." "Peaceful protest is a human right and security forces must exercise appropriate restraint when policing protests in accordance with international standards," he added. "Because of the well-established illegal nature of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, such protests will inevitably continue." Abu Ein was pronounced dead after the confrontation with Israeli soldiers, which occurred during a ...

The Israeli soldier photographed tightly gripping the now dead Minister Ziad Abu Ein by the neck, said "his senior officer told him he did nothing wrong; he did not do anything that would warrant accountability", local media sources quoted him saying. The sources noted that "the soldier went home after being questioned for a few minutes by his direct senior officer." The questioning only took a few minutes during which the soldier said: "The area where the incident occurred was experiencing an event during which Palestinians and foreign activists were planting olive trees, but we blocked the road to prevent them from doing this." The soldier, a member of the border police, also claimed that one of the minister's companions tried to hit soldiers with a stick and so their reaction was moderate. Israeli medics accuse the soldier of killing Abu Ein. One Israeli medical source, who examined details of Abu Ein's autopsy, told Israel's Channel 10...

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The autopsy results of Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein show that he died after a powerful blow to the diaphragm and the heavy use of tear gas, Palestinian minister of civil affairs Hussein al-Sheikh said. "The reason for the death of Abu Ein was his being hit by (Israeli) occupation troops and because of the heavy use of tear gas," al-Sheikh told AFP. "We will refer the autopsy results to the Palestinian leadership to take the decisions they want," al-Sheikh told reporters, adding that "if Israel admits to the murder of Abu Ein, there will be no need to go to the International Criminal Court." Sabir al-Aloul, director of forensic medicine in the Ministry of Health, told Ma'an that a strike to Abu Ein's face dislodged his front teeth and forced them to the back of his throat, near the epiglottis. There was also bruising on both sides of his neck and thyroid cartilage, indicative of heavy pressure. Food was found in ...