JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli police in Jerusalem have detained seven Palestinians from the same family in recent weeks, officials said on Monday.
Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Sumri said the relatives, from northern East Jerusalem neighborhood Beit Hanina, are suspected of blackmail and robbery amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels.
Three suspects were remanded in detention for a further three days on Monday, while the others are still awaiting a court decision, al-Sumri told Ma'an. Some of the group had confessed to the allegations, while others deny all charges, she said.
Shufat police opened an investigation into the family, who was not named, after a Palestinian living in East Jerusalem complained that the group had seized his land despite a court order to leave, and were blackmailing him, the police official said.
Police found a number of similar incidents in northern East Jerusalem for which they suspect the Beit Hanina family, al-Sumri added.
