A Palestinian man serving a 10-year sentence in the Palestinian Authority for selling land to Israeli Jews died in a hospital in Ramallah on Sunday.
The prisoner, who was identified by PA officials only by the initials M.E., was arrested by PA security forces in 2012 and was transferred from jail to the hospital two weeks ago, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post.
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PA police spokesman Luay Zreikat did not specify the cause of death, according to the report, saying only that an investigation had been launched.
PA law prohibits the sale of land to Israelis, and there is also strong Palestinian cultural and religious pressure against the practice.
Last year, despite an Israeli law banning the PA from engaging in political and diplomatic activities in Jerusalem and other areas of Israel, a Fatah spokesperson said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was intensifying efforts to target eastern Jerusalem Arabs suspected of selling property to Israeli Jews.
Also last year, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman called for the immediate release of a Palestinian-American imprisoned by the PA for engaging in a real estate transaction in eastern Jerusalem with Jews.
Issam Akel was handed over to US authorities in January.
