Israeli police arrest Jerusalem governor

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli police arrested Jerusalem governor Adnan Ghaith in a dawn raid on Wednesday, according to a Palestinian NGO.

“The governor was arrested in a raid on his home in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan,” the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a statement.

Ghaith was among 21 Palestinians rounded up in overnight raids carried out by Israeli forces across the holy city, the NGO said.

It remains unclear why the governor was arrested and Israeli police have yet to issue an official statement.

In August, the Jerusalem governor was arrested by Israeli forces and held in prison for two days before being released.

Later, Israeli authorities issued an order banning Ghaith from entering the occupied West Bank for a six-month period.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Mideast conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might one day serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

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.