The secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat, accused Israel of pursuing arbitrary policies and methods to intimidate and arrest Palestinian leaders, systematically violating international law.
He also called on the international community to take urgent measures to save East Jerusalem and secure international protection.
Erekat’s remarks came following the kidnapping the governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith, and the director of the General Intelligence Service, Colonel Jihad al-Faqih, by a special force of the Israeli occupation forces.
The Palestinian official described the kidnapping as “a flagrant violation of international law, an example of Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people and a reminder to the international community of Israel’s impunity.”
“This kidnapping is a small part of a series of violations and practices by Israel, including forced displacement, demolition of houses, and expansion of the colonial settlement system in order to complete its plan to eliminate the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and to impose the rule of greater Israel instead,” Erekat said.
Israeli police on Saturday detained Ghaith, according to official Wafa news agency.
Ghaith was arrested in an ambush in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem before being taken by the police for interrogation. Earlier Saturday, Israeli forces also detained the Palestinian intelligence chief in Jerusalem, according to the agency.
Palestinian officials said the arrest of the governor and the head of intelligence occurred in response to their attempt to make judgments and publish names of those involved in the sale of houses to settlers in the Islamic neighborhood of Jerusalem.
