Israel arrests senior Palestinian official in Jerusalem

A senior Palestinian security official was arrested by Israeli forces for coordinating the arrests of Arab citizens of Israel in Jerusalem.

By: World Israel News Staff

Israeli security forces arrested a senior Palestinian Authority security official for sending his forces to carry out arrests of Arab Israeli citizens in eastern Jerusalem, an Israeli security official said Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Colonel Ali Qaimiri, head of the PA Police in the Jerusalem area, “sent his forces into east Jerusalem to carry out arrests of blue-ID card holders,” the security official said, referring to Palestinian residents who hold Israeli residency cards.

The “investigation is ongoing,” he said.

A PA security official confirmed Qaimiri’s arrest Friday night near Gush Etzion and his transfer to a Jerusalem jail, according to the Post. Qaimiri is scheduled to appear before an Israeli court on Monday, he added.

Arresting Qaimiri “was not the right way for them to handle this situation,” a PA official said, denying that the PA had sent forces into eastern Jerusalem, the Post reported. “They could have contacted us to express their concerns and we could have reached a resolution in a civil way,” he claimed.

Arab IsraelisJerusalemPalestinian Authority