Israeli court orders release of Palestinian official

Jerusalem, NU Online
The lawyer of a top Palestinian official in Jerusalem arrested for illegally collaborating with Palestinian security services says an Israeli court has released his client to house arrest.

Lawyer Rami Othman says the court ruled Sunday the Palestinians' Jerusalem governor, Adnan Ghaith, could leave custody on bail and on condition he not enter the West Bank for two weeks.

Ghaith and more than 30 Palestinian activists were arrested last week for allegedly supporting Palestinian security forces in violation of interim peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians. All have been released.

The arrests, unusual in scale and made under a rarely prosecuted offense, appear to have been prompted by the detention of a Palestinian Jerusalemite who allegedly sold property in the city to Jews, a punishable crime under Palestinian law. (Reuters/Masdar)