74 undocumented residents detained in overnight Jerusalem raid

Border Police officers and Jerusalem District police detained 74 people staying in Israel illegally, along with 2 suspects accused of sheltering them, in a large overnight operation in the Beit Safafa neighborhood of Jerusalem. The raid took place on Wednesday night at several sites simultaneously, following intelligence about undocumented workers and people allegedly being housed in the area.

In one operation, detectives from the Moriah station worked with Jerusalem Border Police at several locations. Searches at a construction site and other points uncovered 22 suspects. Police said all were residents of the territories who had entered and stayed in Israel without legal permits. They were arrested and taken to Moriah station for further investigation.

In a separate operation, Jerusalem Border Police and Jerusalem Yassam units acted at a compound suspected of being used to house undocumented residents, under an intelligence lead and a search warrant. When officers arrived, they sealed off the compound and searched a building under construction, where they found 52 undocumented residents, most of them from Yatta, police said.

During that same operation, officers arrested two nearby suspects, a father and son from Beit Safafa, on suspicion that they provided lodging to the undocumented residents. All of the detainees were transferred to the Border Police's Jerusalem area intelligence unit for further questioning.