For the third time in two weeks, Israeli forces on Tuesday stopped the convoy of interim Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah as he was traveling in the occupied West Bank.
Local sources told a Ma\’an reporter that Hamdallah was detained for 45 minutes at the checkpoint near the District Coordination Office at the entrance to Ramallah.
The convoy was coming from Nablus in the northern West Bank.
On January 14, Israeli police officers stopped Hamdallah\’s convoy twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
The first time was near the Ramallah area village of Turmusayya.
A heated argument broke out between Hamdallah and Israeli officers at that time, and as a result the prime minister swore at an Israeli officer calling him "a dog standing in occupied territory."
Hamdallah did not leave until an officer apologized to him.
In response, Israeli police said Hamdallah\’s convoy was stopped because it was driving "recklessly and endangering other road users."
Twelve hours later, the convoy was stopped again on its way back to Nablus.