JERUSALEM, Wednesday, February 27, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli military police Wednesday overnight detained Jerusalem Governor Adnan Gheith and 21 other Palestinians during large-scale raids across East Jerusalem, said Mohammad Mahmoud, an attorney representing the Palestine Prisoner’s Society.

Mahmoud told WAFA that Israeli military police and intelligence officer detained Jerusalem Governor Adnan Gheith after storming his house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Police also conducted extensive raids in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Essawiya, detaining 21 Palestinians.

Five days ago, over 40 Palestinians, mostly identified as members of the Fatah movement, were rounded up in extensive detention raids across the city.

Recent detention raids follow escalating tensions inside Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound over the closure of the metal gate leading to Bab al-Rahmeh, on the eastern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Bab al-Rahmeh has been shuttered by Israeli since 2003. At the time, the closure was justified on the grounds of alleged political activities, but the building has remained closed ever since.

The closure of the metal gate with chains and locks was perceived by Palestinian Muslims as a harbinger to the division of the mosque compound and allocation of the eastern section for Israeli Jewish settlers.

K.F.