PA nabs 3 Palestinians for spreading coronavirus rumors

The Palestinian Authority security forces arrested three Palestinians on Tuesday who were involved in spreading rumors about coronavirus infections in Bethlehem by way of a WhatsApp voice recording, a PA security source said.

The PA Preventative Security collared Muataz Salim of Dar Salah, a village east of Bethlehem, after he created the voice recording, in which he pretended to be a PA Health Ministry official and spoke about infections in Bethlehem, the security source said in a phone call.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not elaborate further on the contents of the audio.

The PA General Intelligence Services also nabbed two Palestinians from Hebron who received the recording from Salim and sent it to others, the source added.

Following the his arrest, Salim apologized for the recording and said that he only meant to send it to a friend as a “joke” and did not intend for it to be spread, according to a second audio recording obtained by The Times of Israel.

“I did not expect the recording to be publicized in this way and cause people fear and panic,” he said.

Salim and the two Palestinians from Hebron were handed over to investigators to clarify the details of what transpired so authorities could “take legal measures against them,” a source in the General Intelligence Services told the official PA news site Wafa.

The PA has come under fire in the past for its enforcement of laws that grant it sweeping powers against social media users.

Shortly after Palestinian health authorities confirmed the first cases of coronavirus in the West Bank last Thursday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared a state of emergency for 30 days.

PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has since announced the closure of schools and universities, the cancellation of all hotel reservations and conferences, the shuttering of tourist and religious sites, the banning of public gatherings and protests, and other measures.

He also has declared that no one would be allowed to leave or enter Bethlehem except in the case of emergencies.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show that Bethlehem has essentially turned into a ghost town.

Bethlehem is the most visited tourist destination in the West Bank and is also the home of the Church of the Nativity, a site revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Many of the hotels, shops and restaurants in the city depend on tourists to keep their businesses afloat.

PA government spokesman Ibrahim Milhem said on Tuesday that 29 people in the West Bank have now been diagnosed with the virus, with all but one case in Bethlehem.