Two East Jerusalem men arrested over allegations of support for Hamas

Police arrested two Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem suspected of incitement and identifying with Hamas in recent days, law enforcement announces.

One of the suspects, a hotel maintenance worker in his 30s, was arrested over allegations that he created several incendiary social media posts, including one quoting a speech given by slain Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

“Hamas dedicates our souls, our blood, our family and our sons for the sake of Jerusalem. There is no such thing as the State of Israel whose capital is Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not for sale,” the post reads, per police.

The other detainee, a 46-year-old man also from East Jerusalem, had been keeping Hamas flags in his house, police say. They seized the flags during a raid on his home.

The two suspects are in detention and police expect prosecutors to file incitement charges against both in the coming days.

Touting dozens of arrests they have carried out in Jerusalem on terror-related incitement suspicions, police say that most suspects are tracked down online by officers in the district police’s “Special Awareness Operations Center” — launched ahead of Ramadan earlier this year to monitor online incitement.