Israeli, three tourists questioned after entering Jericho

Police say they retrieved an Israeli citizen and three foreign nationals from the West Bank city of Jericho today and have taken them for questioning.

The four are Jewish tourists who had been visiting the city with a Palestinian tour guide, according to the Civil Administration, which manages civilian affairs in the West Bank.

Like in previous cases, the Civil Administration — a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — contacted the Palestinian Authority’s security services to locate and transfer the civilians to Israeli forces.

“Upon receiving the report, officers from the Jericho District Coordination and Liaison Office acted to provide immediate protection to the Jews — three of whom hold foreign citizenship — and simultaneously to transfer them to the security forces through the coordination channels,” the Civil Administration says.

Officers took the four in for questioning at a nearby police station about the circumstances of their entry into the PA administered city.

Police stress that it is illegal for Israeli citizens to enter PA-controlled territory in the West Bank, adding that it “constitutes a real danger to one’s life.”