Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, the Deputy Director General of the Islamic Awqaf Department in Jerusalem, was taken into custody by Israeli occupation forces on Friday from his residence in the town of Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club stated that Sheikh Bakirat was deported from the occupied city of Jerusalem for a period of five months after the occupation troops examined his home prior to his detention.