Palestinian dies in Israeli military custody after Jericho clashes

A Palestinian man has died after being beaten and detained by Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank city of Jericho.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

22 February, 2018

27 Palestinians have died in attacks, clashes and air strikes since Trump's Jerusalem announcement [Getty]

A Palestinian died Thursday after being detained by Israeli soldiers overnight following clashes in the occupied West Bank.

The family of 33-year-old Yassin al-Saradeeh said he died after being beaten by Israeli soldiers during his arrest.

Footage of the arrest shows the Palestinian man being kicked and punched as he lies helplessly on the ground.

Protests broke out when Israeli troops stormed the Palestinian city of Jericho in a bid to arrest suspects behind the clashes.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club released a statement saying Saradeeh was pronounced dead after suffering from seizures and being exposed to severe amounts of tear gas fired during the raid.

According to the NGO, Saradeeh's family, along with other witnesses, said that he was severely assaulted during his detention.

In a statement, the Israeli military on Thursday said troops fired shots at Saradeeh when he charged at them with an iron rod.

"The force responded with gunfire, confronted the terrorist from close range and managed to stop him," an army statement said.

"A knife was found in his possession. He was evacuated by the force from the scene to receive medical treatment. He was later pronounced dead."

The video circulating online appeared to show a Palestinian running at soldiers with an object before being detained by the troops, beaten and dragged away.

The military confirmed that the video was of an incident overnight in Jericho.

Eid Barahmeh, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club in Jericho, told Haaretz Saradeeh was arrested at around 2am.

Two hours later, his family was notified of his death.

Sarameeh's body was transferred to the Forensic Institute in Abu Kabir for the autopsy, Barahmen added.

Since US President Donald Trump's controversial December recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, 27 Palestinians and two Israelis have died in attacks, clashes and air strikes.

Palestinians consider at least the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state.

Agencies contributed to this report.