Elderly Palestinian found dead shortly after Israeli arrest

An 80-year-old Palestinian man, described by his family as a US citizen, has been found dead after being detained and handcuffed during an Israeli raid on a village in the occupied West Bank.

The body of Omar Abdalmajeed Asad was found in Jiljilya in the early hours of the morning with a plastic zip-tie still around one wrist, villagers said on Wednesday.

The Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out an overnight raid in the village.

It said he was alive when the soldiers released him and the military had launched an investigation into the matter.

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Bounded and blindfolded

Jiljilya village council head Fouad Qattoum said Asad was returning home after visiting relatives when Israeli soldiers stopped his car, bound him, blindfolded him, and led him away to a building still under construction. 

Another villager said he saw Israeli soldiers walking Asad away around 3 am.

More than an hour after the troops withdrew, villagers found Asad's body in a building under construction.

According to vegetable seller Mamdouh Elaboud, he was himself detained for 20 minutes, then released.

Islam Abu Zaher, a local doctor who said he had tried to resuscitate Asad but found no pulse, said there were no obvious signs of injury and the cause of death was unclear.

"It is possible that he suffered a heart attack or some form of panic," Abu Zaher said, noting that Asad had previously undergone open heart surgery and cardiac catheterisation.

In a post on Facebook, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh blamed Israeli forces for the man's death, calling it a "crime".

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