Abbas suspends security cooperation with Israel

According to a Palestinian report, their Minister for Settlement Affairs, Ziad Abu Ain, died in Ramallah hospital Wednesday after a clash at Turmus Aya in the northern West Bank with Israeli soldiers, whom they accusing of beating him up. Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the incident as extremely grave and demanded that those responsible be brought to justice. Israeli security forces are braced for an upsurge of riots and possible revenge attacks. DEBKAfile: Abu Ain was a prominent member of the Fatah activist Tanzim group and close to its leader, Marwan Barghouti, who hid in his home while on the run from Israeli forces during he Second Intifada. Barghouti was later sentenced to five life sentences for orchestrating multiple terrorist murders.