(MENAFN- Arab News) RAMALLAH: Thousands of Palestinians massed Thursday to mourn a senior official who was killed by Israeli troops while the army sent reinforcements and dispersed protesters in the West Bank.

The Palestinian leadership blamed Israel for the killing of 55-year-old Ziad Abu Ein as tensions threatened to boil over into another round of violence in the occupied territories.

Officials and onlookers streamed into the Ramallah headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas for the funeral procession to a nearby cemetery an AFP correspondent said.

Uniformed Palestinians carried Abu Ein's coffin draped in a Palestinian flag into the courtyard as nationalist songs blared and mourners chanted 'Revenge!' and 'Your blood will not be spilled in vain!'

Schools were closed in a day of mourning and posters of Abu Ein were plastered on walls throughout the West Bank city.

'After hearing the results of the post-mortem the Palestinian government holds Israel fully responsible for the killing of Ziad Abu Ein' government spokesman Ihab Bseiso told reporters in Ramallah on Thursday.

A Palestinian minister said the post-mortem which was carried out by a Palestinian an Israeli and Jordanian doctors had shown that Abu Ein was killed by the actions of Israeli troops.

'The reason for the death of Abu Ein was his being hit by (Israeli) occupation troops and because of the heavy use of tear gas' Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein Al-Sheikh told AFP.

Sheikh said Israeli forces had prevented Abu Ein from getting to a hospital quickly enough to save his life.

Israel's Health Ministry said the death was caused by a 'blockage of the coronary artery' which 'could have been caused by stress' adding that Abu Ein suffered from poor health including heart disease.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a message through one of his aides to Abbas in which he 'pointed to the need to calm the situation and act responsibly' his office said.

Separately Israel has slammed the decision of the Irish Parliament to adopt a non-binding resolution supporting an independent Palestinian state.

Foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon expressed disappointment Thursday at the decision accusing the Irish Parliament of giving voice to 'statements of hatred and Anti-Semitism directed at Israel in a way which we have not heard before.'

Some Irish lawmakers accused Israel of genocide during the parliamentary debate on Palestinian recognition.