RAMALLAH, November 23, 2017 (WAFA) – Three Palestinians from East Jerusalem were ordered to stay in prison after an Israeli court rejected on Thursday their petition for release, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

PPS attorney Mufeed al-Haj said the Jerusalem District Court rejected his appeal for the release of Musab Abbas, Issam Khatib and Aseel Hassouneh.

The three were among 17 East Jerusalem Palestinians Israeli police had detained on Tuesday on charges they were working on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in conducting a population census in occupied East Jerusalem.

The detainees included top Fatah leaders such as Hatem Abdul Qadder, Fawzi Shaaban, and others. Most were released on the same day or the next and placed under house arrest for one week.

Police has remanded the three until Monday.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem following its occupation in 1967, a step that was not recognized by any government, and bars any official Palestinian activity in it.

M.K.