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Jerusalem - Two Israelis have been arrested for running an illegal human organ transplant ring, police said on Thursday.

The two men were accused of mediating between people willing to sell organs and those awaiting transplants, and of arranging to have the operations done abroad, police superintendent Gilad Bahat told public radio.

Two other people have been detained on suspicion they were trying to sell kidneys, he said.

Any trade in organs or payment for donations is illegal in Israel.

Illicit organ trade has become a sensitive subject in Israel since a Swedish journalist alleged in August that Israel was stealing organs from Palestinians killed in violence, a charge Israel vehemently denied.