The Palestinian Authority said it will cease security coordination with Israel in response to the death of a senior Palestinian official following a confrontation with Israeli soldiers.

Jibril Rajoub, a Palestinian political official, said the PA will end “all forms of security coordination with Israel for deliberately killing Minister Ziad Abu Ein,” the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.

Both the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups called on the PA to halt security coordination following the Dec. 10 death of Abu Ein, a member of the Fatah party’s Revolutionary Council, during a protest in the West Bank. Israeli soldiers allegedly beat Abu Ein and he suffered severe tear gas inhalation, Ma’an reported.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas in a statement called the alleged attack a “barbaric action that cannot be ignored or accepted.” He also said he would take “the proper actions after the investigation reveals how he was killed.”

The Israeli army is investigating the circumstances surrounding Abu Ein’s death and has proposed to the Palestinians a joint investigation into the incident.

Abu Ein, 55, died in the village of Turmusiya, near Ramallah. Local residents and activists were protesting the Jewish settlement outpost Adei Ad by planting olive trees on land they believe is in danger of being confiscated by Israel.

Abu Ein was extradited to Israel from the United States in 1981 to face charges that he was involved in a 1979 bombing that killed two Israeli teens, the Times of Israel reported. After being sentenced to life in prison, Abu Ein was released during a 1985 prisoner swap. — jta