RAMALLAH, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli Magistrate Court ordered on Tuesday the release of two Palestinian officials from East Jerusalem after they were held in an Israeli jail for 19 days, the lawyer of the two officials told Xinhua.
Rami Othman said that an Israeli court decided on Tuesday to release Adnan Gheith, the Palestinian Authority governor of East Jerusalem, and Jihad al-Faqih, chief of the PA security intelligence in the eastern part of the city.
"The Israeli security services failed to find Gheith guilty," said Othman.
The Israeli authorities had banned Gheith in April to contact any of the Palestinian Authority officials based in Ramallah. On July 19, Israeli police arrested him for violating the Israeli decision.
"The Israeli court ordered the release of Gheith and al-Faqih in the condition that they should not make any contact with each other or with any of the Palestinian leadership's officials in the West Bank," said Othman.
Meanwhile, Ahmad al-Deek, a political advisor in the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua that the Israeli court's conditions to ban Gheith and al-Faqih from contacting Palestinian officials are "rejected and condemned."
"Israel systematically targets on purpose senior Palestinian officials in East Jerusalem, including collective punishment to prevent the Palestinian government from providing services to the citizens in the city," said al-Deek.
The Palestinians consider the eastern part of Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their independent state, while Israel believes that all Jerusalem is its eternal capital. Enditem
