Israel raids office of Palestinian Jerusalem governor

RAMALLAH: Israeli forces raided the offices of the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem on Sunday, authorities said, after reports of an investigation related to a land sale.

Israeli authorities confirmed the raid in Al-Ram, just on the other side of Israel’s separation wall from Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, but provided few details. It came after Israel’s detention of the Palestinian governor, Adnan Gheith, on October 20. He was released two days later.

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Jerusalem affairs minister, Adnan al-Husseini, told AFP that Israeli forces confiscated documents and material during the raid. The same building houses his ministry and the governor’s office, both of which he said were raided in the first such Israeli action. Palestinian government spokesman Yusuf Mahmud said it was a “dangerous escalation of the occupation and a flagrant violation of all international laws and agreements”. Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said in a statement a joint raid with police and the army was over “illegal activity by the PA in Jerusalem”.