Israel raids Palestinian Jerusalem governor's office

Israeli forces on Sunday raided the offices of the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem, authorities said, after reports of an investigation related to a land sale.

Israeli authorities confirmed the raid in al-Ram, just on the other side of Israel's separation wall from Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

The raid follows the arrest and detention of governor Adnan Gheith on 20 October. Gheith was released after two days.

Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem affairs minister, told AFP that Israeli forces confiscated documents and material during the raid, which he said was the first of such action by Israel.

The Jerusalem affairs ministry is situated in the same building as the governor's office.

Palestinian government spokesman Yusuf Mahmud described the Israeli action as a "dangerous escalation of the occupation and a flagrant violation of all international laws and agreements".

In a statement, Israel's Shin Bet security agency said that the joint police and army raid related to "illegal activity by the PA in Jerusalem".

It added that "various materials were seized which will be examined by security bodies".

Asked to specify which illegal activity, the Shin Bet said only that all PA activity in Jerusalem was illegal.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

It considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

The PA has a minister for Jerusalem affairs and a Jerusalem governor located in al-Ram, with Palestinian Authority activities barred in Jerusalem itself.

Israeli media reported that the investigation follows the PA's arrest of a man last month accused of selling property in east Jerusalem to a Jewish buyer.

Such sales are highly controversial among Palestinians concerned with Israeli settlers buying property in east Jerusalem.

But among Israelis, there have been calls for authorities to free the man arrested by the PA over the sale.

Neither the PA nor Israeli authorities commented on the alleged arrest of the property seller, who Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported was a Palestinian with US citizenship