26 November 2018•Update: 26 November 2018
By Abdel Raouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM
Israeli police forces rounded up 32 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out in East Jerusalem, according to a police statement on Monday.
In a statement, police said the individuals have been arrested for “suspicion of recruitment and serving in the Palestinian security service”.
Israeli law prohibits recruitment to the security forces of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
All detainees are members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement.
Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, residents of East Jerusalem join the Palestinian security forces to serve in the occupied West Bank. They are, however, not allowed to serve in the holy city.
Fatah, for its part, decried the arrests, saying the Israeli move “would not nip its resolve in the bud”.
In recent weeks, Israeli forces have stepped up its arrest campaigns against Fatah members in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, Israeli forces rearrested Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith in a raid on his home in the occupied city.
International law continues to view East Jerusalem, along with the entire West Bank, as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement construction there as illegal.
