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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| PA seizes seven Hamas members in West Bank |
| 2009-07-17 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Hamas says Fatah-run security forces in the occupied territory of West Bank have arrested at least 7 people affiliated with the Palestinian faction. According to a statement released by the Islamic resistance movement, those arrested in the late Wednesday raids came from the areas of Tulkarem, Nablus and Ariha (Jericho). The Palestinian Authority forces had reportedly ransacked their West Bank homes overnight for possible documents. The recent arrests come as part of a violent crackdown that the Palestinian Authority has mounted on affiliates to Hamas in the West Bank. The opponent Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, have long been wrangling with each other over substantial discords which have undermined efforts to bridge the gap between different Palestinian factions. In another development, meanwhile, Israeli army soldiers seized eight Palestinians, including three teenagers, and took them into custody during overnight operations in the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, the pre-dawn raids took place in the occupied Palestinian cities of Jenin, Nablus, Beit Lahm (Bethlehem) as well as Ariha. The arrests came despite the Israeli army's pledge last month to refrain from future incursions into West Bank terrains. The pledge has been broken on numerous occasions. A number of Israeli ground soldiers also broke into a Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern West Bank early on Thursday. The troops cordoned off the al-Balawna neighborhood in the camp at 2 am local time (24 GMT) and started combing through the residents' houses. No one was reported as arrested. Tel Aviv claims that those arrested in overnight raids in the West Bank are 'wanted fighters'. More than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities, facing harsh and life-threatening conditions. |
| Posted by:Fred |