Israel arrests Palestinian with explosive device
JERUSALEM: Israeli police on Sunday arrested a Palestinian carrying an explosive device as he approached a military court in the occupied West Bank, security officials said.
Specialists examined the device, which did not explode, the Israeli police said, without providing further details.
Local media said the military court was located in the Nablus area in the north of the occupied Palestinian territory.
Israeli public radio said the Palestinian hailed from the Jenin refuge camp further north in the West Bank.
A second explosive device was discovered inside his coat, the radio added, but there was no confirmation of this from the Israeli police.
Tensions have been high in the Palestinian territories since US President Donald Trump on December 6 recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
On Saturday, thousands of Palestinians took part in funerals for four men killed Friday in clashes with Israeli forces during protests against the decision in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah faction has called for massive protests on Wednesday against a visit to Jerusalem by US Vice President Mike Pence.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the most controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel seized control of the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Middle East war and sees the whole of Jerusalem as its undivided capital.
The Palestinians view the east as the capital of their future state. — AFP