Hezbollah slams Israel’s ‘barbaric’ killing of Palestinian minister

Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has condemned Israel’s recent killing of a Palestinian minister in the occupied West Bank.

Ziad Abu Ein was killed on Wednesday after Israeli soldiers hit him with the butts of their weapons and their helmets.

In a statement on Thursday, Hezbollah denounced the killing as a “barbaric” crime, saying it is the latest example of Israeli aggression against Palestinians.

“This crime is a continuation of the Zionist brutality which targets all the Palestinians without exceptions or discrimination,” read part of the statement.

Hezbollah offered condolences to the Palestinian people and officials over the incident and said the Palestinians have been paying the price of their loyalty to their cause.

Abu Ein, who was in charge of the issue of Israeli settlements within the Palestinian Authority, was killed in an anti-Israeli protest in the occupied West Bank village of Turmusiya, during which some 300 Palestinians planned to plant olive trees as a symbolic act of protest against Israeli settlements.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned “the brutal assault that led to the martyrdom” of Abu Ein, calling it “a barbaric act that cannot be tolerated or accepted.”

Thousands of Palestinians as well as foreign dignitaries attended a Thursday funeral for the official in Ramallah.