Seven east Jerusalem residents were arrested on Tuesday after an undercover investigation by Israel Police found evidence that they had been working for and funded by the Palestinian Authority within Israeli territory.Police detectives went to the homes of the suspects early on Tuesday morning to conduct the arrests. Searches in the homes found more evidence to back the suspicions against the suspects.Arrested in the raids were secretary-general of the Popular National Conference for Jerusalem Maj.-Gen. Bilal Al-Natsheh; his office manager Muath Al-Ashhab; the Israeli court-appointed custodian of the Mamilla Cemetery Hajj Mustafa Abu Zahra; and the mayor of Kafr Aqab Imad Awad, according to the Palestinian Safa News Agency. The writer, poet and activist Rania Hatem and journalist Tamer Obeidat were arrested in the raids as well.The conference was founded to "deal with [the] people of Jerusalem to protect them and their families from occupation in all aspects" and "to keep the unity structure of [the] population in the city between religions," according to the Anna Lindh Foundation.Jad al-Ghoul was also arrested in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem, according to Safa.Seven young men from Jerusalem’s Issawiya neighborhood were also arrested, after their homes were raided as violent confrontations broke out during the arrests in the area. In late March and early April, some east Jerusalem residents were detained by the
Police on suspicion of acting on behalf of the PA and its ruling Fatah faction to prevent the spread of the virus in several neighborhoods and villages in the city.
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The 1994 Law Implementing the Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, Restriction on Activity, bans the PA from carrying out political, governmental or
similar activity within the area of the State of Israel, including east Jerusalem.
Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.
