02 March 2017•Update: 05 March 2017
JERUSALEM
An Israeli court on Thursday extended the detention period of a Palestinian employee of Turkish aid agency TIKA, who was arrested last month as he was attempting to cross the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The decision came following the demand of a prosecutor who asked the court to keep Mohamed Murtaja under custody for 11 more days.
Murtaja, who has worked for TIKA in the Gaza Strip since 2012, had reportedly been on his way to a training course in Turkish capital Ankara when he was detained on Feb. 12.
He is accused of having links to Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, communicating with foreign intelligence agencies, and plotting against Israel’s national security, according to his lawyer, Khaled Zayarqa.
Zayarqa confirmed last week to Anadolu Agency that his client had been brought before an Israeli judge who had ordered that he not be allowed to speak with his lawyers until Feb. 28.
Thursday's hearing also extended the ban on him to speak to his lawyers until Sunday.
The next hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv are closely following the issue, according to Turkish sources last week.
The sources, who spoke anonymously due to restrictions on talking to media, said the charges against Murtaja were not related to his work with TIKA.
*Reporting by Turgut Alp Boyraz; Writing by Ayşe Humeyra Atilgan
