HAMAS official Khalil al-Hayya accused the Palestinian Authority today of executing Nizar Banat in what he said was a political decision which it is now trying to cover up.

He was speaking in the Lebanese capital Beirut, during meetings with President Michel Aoun and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah when he made the remarks regarding Mr Banat, who died in police custody last week.

His death has triggered mass protests across the occupied West Bank, calling for the resignation of President Mahmoud Abbas, who was already under pressure for cancelling elections that were to be held later this month — the first in the occupied territories for 15 years.