Israeli police on Thursday arrested a minister in the Palestinians' new Hamas-led government, a Hamas official said.

Palestinian women's affairs minister, Dr. Mariam Saleh, left, and other ministers of Hamas attend the first Cabinet meeting of the Islamic group Hamas at the West Bank city of Ramallah Wednesday April 5, 2006. The Palestinian Authority's coffers are empty and the new government is struggling to find money to pay tens of thousands of its employees, new Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told his Hamas-led Cabinet. [AP]

Khaled Abu Arafa, minister of Jerusalem affairs, was arrested along with his bodyguard on his way to Izzariya, a suburb near Jerusalem, where he was planning to open an office, the official said on condition of anonymity because he feared Israeli retribution.

Further details of the arrest were not immediately available.

However, it appears Abu Arafa may have been arrested for trying to open the office. Part of Izzariya is in Jerusalem, and Hamas is prohibited by Israeli law from opening offices in the city.

Israeli police did not immediately comment.

Abu Arafa has been detained several times by Israel in the past.