Israeli forces nab Palestinian governor

JERUSALEM, Feb 27 (Al Jazeera): Israeli police arrested Adnan Ghaith, the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem, in a dawn raid on Wednesday, according to a local NGO and local media.

"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 in occupied East Jerusalem, Maan news agency reported.

Many of whose rounded up were members of the Fatah movement in Jerusalem.

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

Ghaith - appointed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in August last year - was previously arrested several times by Israeli forces, the last of which was in November 2018.

In December, he was briefly placed under house arrest and was later banned from entering the occupied West Bank for a six-month period.

Meanwhile, Fatah spokesman Atef Abu Seif denounced Wednesday's arrests and said in a statement the move would not weaken the Palestinian people's will to fight for their land.

"The fight for Jerusalem will always be our main battle, despite the efforts of some to divert it to serve only the agenda of the occupying state," he said.