A critic of the Palestinian leadership and one of the candidates in the postponed legislative elections has died while in the hands of the Palestinian security forces, after they arrested him in the Hebron area.

Nizar Banat, a 44-year-old carpenter who has publicly complained about the corruption of the Palestinian leadership, was awoken at 3 a.m. on June 24 by about 20 members of the Palestinian security forces, his family claims. He was dragged from his bed after being pepper-sprayed. His family says he was bleeding when they took him away. Banat, whose house was shot at two months ago, had been in hiding when arrested.

Banat was sleeping at the home of a relative near Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, which is in the H2 area under the direct security control of the Israeli security forces, which means that the Palestinian security forces needed to get Israeli permission to carry out their mission, according to Waleed Omari, the bureau chief of Al Jazeera in Jerusalem. 

In a brief statement, the Hebron governorate said Banat’s “health deteriorated” when Palestinian forces went to arrest him early on June 24. It said he was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A Palestinian coroner issued a statement later in the day saying Banat had died due to “blows to the body including to the head, chest, and lower and upper parts of his body.”