RAMALLAH, May 19, 2017 (WAFA) – The Palestinian government Thursday condemned the killing of a Palestinian young man and injuring others by an Israeli settler near Huwwara, south of Nablus.

Government spokesman Tareq Rishmawi condemned in a press release the killing of 23-year-old Mutaz Bani Shamsa as a “crime which is added to the long record of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.”

Rishmawi held the Israeli government fully responsible for this “heinous crime” which was perpetrated by settlers “under the cover provided by Israeli forces and government”.

He called upon the international community and human rights organizations to “take serious steps to hold perpetrators accountable”.

Rishmawi also referred to Palestinian prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for 33 consecutive days in Israeli prisons.

“The Palestinian government hold the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the health deterioration of any hunger striker given the authorities’ intransigence to respond to hunger strikers’ fair human demands,” the statement read.

He also called on the international community to intervene in the case of hunger strikers, affirming “their credibility is at stake.”

Meanwhile, the Information Ministry condemned the distribution of candy by an Israeli settler in celebration of the killing as an evidence to “Israeli racism and hatred against the Palestinian people.”

K.F.