Report: IDF arrests top Hamas leaders in West Bank
Army forces launch West Bank raid early Thursday, arresting some 20 wanted Palestinian suspects. According to Hamas officials, at least 10 of the detainees are senior group members
Some 20 wanted Palestinian suspects have been arrested in a pre-dawn raid in the West Bank early Thursday. Four members of Hamas' Legislative Council have been arrested in the raid, which was a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation.
According to the Palestinians, the detainees include Nasser Shaher, a former Palestinian deputy prime minister, and several Hamas lawmakers.
Israeli security sources said that the detainees constitute the Hamas leadership in the West Bank and were involved in "restoring the Hamas administrative branch."
Ahmed Bahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, denounced the arrests as "immoral blackmail by the Zionist occupation."
The detentions could be part of an attempt to exert further pressure on Hamas to release Israeli captive Gilad Shalit, after the failure of recent efforts to win his release.
On June 29 2006, shortly after Shalit had been kidnapped, the army launched an extensive raid in the West Bank, arresting dozens Hamas officials, including ministers, parliament members and senior activists of the movement.
Three prominent Hamas leaders were arrested during the 2006 raid in Jerusalem: Mahmoud Abu Tir, Mahmoud Atuan and Khaled Abu Arfa, as well as other Hamas lawmakers.
Shaher was also arrested in 2006, but was later released. He served as education minister and deputy prime minister in Ismail Haniyehs' first government, and is considered one of the movement's more moderate leaders.
He has led mediation and reconciliation efforts between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and has recently met with American and international officials to convey to them Hamas' stance on regional affairs.
Ali Waked and AP contributed to the report
