JERUSALEM — Israelis security officials said the Palestinian Authority has
established a unit to abduct Palestinians in Jerusalem with views deemed incorrect.
Officials said Israel has identified a branch of the PA police that abducts
Palestinians from Jerusalem. They said the PA unit was kidnapping dissidents
and their children from Israel's capital and bringing them into the West
Bank.
"Those targeted have been people in dispute with the PA or its senior
officials," an official said.
The PA abduction unit was detected by Jerusalem Police, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said
the PA unit operates in eastern Jerusalem in violation of an agreement.
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In August 2008, Jerusalem police arrested several suspected members of
the PA abduction unit. The detainees were identified as residents of the
Palestinian refugee camp in the northern Jerusalem area of Shuafat.
The PA unit was said to have been assisted by an Israeli Jew who lived
near Jerusalem. Officials said the Israeli was alleged to have sold
thousands of rounds of ammunition to the PA operatives.
Members of the abduction team raided homes of Palestinian targets in the
guise of PA police officers. Officials said the Palestinians were taken away
to PA police headquarters in Ramallah for interrogation.
In July, the PA unit was said to have abducted a Christian and her two
children from their home in Jerusalem's Beit Hanina neighborhood. The woman
was taken to Ramallah, the residence of her ex-husband, identified as close
to the PA. The woman was then forced to sign an agreement to provide the
Palestinian father with visitation rights.
Officials said the PA abduction unit operated in conjunction with the
ruling Fatah movement. They said a senior Fatah operative in Shuafat
approved the kidnappings.
