The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told BosNewsLife that Israeli troops rounded up a minister, who was later identified as Education Minister Nasser Shaer, and "other senior members of the Palestinian authority and local authorities," in the overnight raid.
Several legislators and mayors were believed to be also among those captured. The arrest of Minister Shaer was expected to lead to more tensions with more moderate Palestinian officials seeking talks with Israel as he was considered a pragmatist within Hamas.
The IDF defended its action saying the Hamas "terror organization is currently involved in enhancing the terror infrastructure in the Judea and Samaria region, based on the model used in the Gaza Strip," from where rockets have been fired in recent weeks, killing at least one Israeli woman. "The organization exploits governmental institutions to encourage and support terrorist activity," the IDF told BosNewsLife.
DETAINED MEMBERS
The detained Hamas members "were taken for questioning by security forces," the IDF said, but there exact whereabouts were unclear Thursday, May 24.
Speaking to Israeli media, Minister Shaer’s wife, Huda, said soldiers knocked on the door of their home in the West Bank city of Nablus and took him away. Troops allegedly also seized Shaer’s computer. Israel reportedly detained Shaer previously for a month last year during a similar crackdown, before a judge ordered his release.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz defended the arrests and said, "Arrests are better than shooting." He told Israeli Army Radio that the detentions of "these Hamas leaders sends a message to the military organizations that we demand that this firing (of rockets) stop."
In a first reaction, however, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the arrests were a blow to peace efforts, while a spokesman for Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, called for the immediate release of the detainees. He also urged the United Nations and European Union to impose sanctions on Israel.
AGGRESSIVE PRACTICES
"These aggressive practices show the extent of the Israeli escalation and arrogance in the Palestinian territories, and also show how dismissive the Israeli government is of all customs and international laws," spokesman Ghazi Hamad reportedly said.
The Israeli actions overshadowed attempts to end Palestinian infighting and followed a meeting in Gaza between Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Both men reportedly discussed declaring a unilateral truce with Israel and a truce between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah that went into effect a few days ago.
Fighting between Palestinian rival factions killed at least 50 people in recent weeks and came as Hamas stepped up its firing of rockets against Israel and its reprisals in the form of air strikes. The Palestinian territories’ tiny Christian minority, meanwhile, expressed concern about the situation, BosNewsLife established. Christian families have been trapped in their homes amid both Palestinian infighting and Israeli air strikes.
An estimated 3,000 Christians still live in Gaza, which has a population of about 1.5 million. "While Christians are not the direct target of any attacks, they are still caught up in the conflict between other groups," aid group Barnabas Fund said this week in a statement to BosNewsLife, adding that a "recent Israeli attack" destroyed a Christian home, although no one was injured. (With reporting from Israel and the Palestinian territories).
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