Palestinian dies an hour after Israel arrests him from occupied West Bank

The 58-year-old man’s body is handed over to the Palestine Red Crescent Society amid intensified Israeli attacks on the Palestinian territory.

Israeli troops have handed to the Palestinian health authorities the body of a Palestinian man arrested about an hour earlier in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Monday that it had received the body of 58-year-old Ayman Rajeh Abed, who belonged to Kafr Dan village outside Jenin, shortly after he was arrested at dawn on Monday.

The director of the Jenin Government Hospital said the body bore signs of beatings and torture.

The Israeli military said Abed was detained during “counterterrorism” operations and experienced a “cardiac event” on arrival at a detention facility. He was given initial treatment by medical staff from the military before being transferred to the hospital in Jenin.

“[Israel’s army] is aware of reports that the suspect died during his evacuation by the Red Crescent,” the military said in a statement, adding that details of the incident were under review.

The incident came as the Israeli forces expanded their operations in the flashpoint city of Jenin and the surrounding areas for a sixth day.

Bulldozers continued to dig up streets and major thoroughfares to find roadside bombs on Monday.

Israel launched the operation, one of the largest in months, last Wednesday, saying Iranian-backed fighter groups were planning to attack civilian targets.

Hundreds of Israeli troops backed by drones and helicopters have taken part in the operation, which has caused extensive damage to houses and infrastructure in Jenin and the densely-packed refugee camp adjacent to the city.

‘Collective punishment’

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Kafr Dan, said the Palestinians in Jenin kept repeating that what has been happening over the past six days is “collective punishment”.

“They say Israel wants to show that Palestinians would pay a heavy price for supporting armed fighters – those who pick up arms and try to combat Israeli forces while they are raiding Palestinian homes, refugee camps and cities,” she said.

At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in less than a week, with Israel claiming they were members of armed factions including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Another 121 people have been wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities. Late on Sunday, a man was killed in the west of Jenin city.

On Monday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said another man was hit in the chest by gunfire in Qabatiya near Jenin. His condition was described as serious.