Israel seizes Hamas leaders in West Bank, bombs Gaza

By Staff
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NABLUS, West Bank, May 24 (Reuters) Israeli forces seized a Palestinian cabinet minister and 32 other officials in the occupied West Bank and launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip today, stepping up a campaign against Hamas Islamists.

The overnight arrests came after Hamas and other groups rebuffed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's call for a halt to rocket attacks by Gaza militants at Israeli towns. Two months after they formed a unity government, Hamas and Abbas's secular Fatah faction remain at daggers drawn in a struggle for control.

Israeli troops entered the West Bank city of Nablus and took into custody Education Minister Naser al-Shaer of Hamas, according to his wife, Huda. ''I asked them, 'Why are you taking him'. The officer said, 'We have orders','' she told Reuters.

Israeli forces also seized at least three Hamas lawmakers, the mayor and deputy mayor of Nablus and other Hamas officials in neighbouring towns and villages, Hamas officials said.

The Israeli army said in a statement that 33 people had been arrested across the West Bank and were taken for questioning.

Palestinian government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said the arrests displayed ''a scale of escalation and Israeli arrogance'' and called for those arrested to be released.

''Through this ... aggression the Israeli government is once again pushing the region into a cycle of violence and it bears the full responsibility for the consequences resulting from such irresponsibile actions,'' Hamad said.

The Israeli army said in a statement: ''The Hamas terror organisation is currently involved in enhancing the terror infrastructure in the (West Bank) region, based on the model used in the Gaza Strip. The organisation exploits governmental institutions to encourage and support terrorist activity.'' An Israeli government official said Israel would continue to seek out Palestinian militants: ''Israel is making it crystal clear that it is adamant about stopping the Hamas terror directed against us both in the Gaza Strip via the continuous Qassam rocket attacks and in the West Bank where the terror cells continue to flourish,'' David Baker said.

INTERNATIONAL INTEREST A similar operation last year against Hamas ministers and lawmakers in the West Bank sparked an international backlash.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana was due to meet Abbas in Gaza later on Thursday.

Hamas, whose leaders include Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, accuses Israel and Western powers including the United States of siding with Abbas's Fatah faction against it.

In Gaza, local residents said a farmer working in his field was killed by Israeli gunfire, residents and hospital officials said. The Israeli army was checking the report.

Earlier, an Israeli air strike had hit a car carrying Hamas militants. They escaped unharmed but at least two people nearby were injured in the blast, witnesses said. Other strikes targeted Hamas's financial network, the army said. Residents said offices of two money-changers close to Hamas were hit.

Abbas had hoped to convince militants to stop rocket attacks against Israel as part of a renewed ceasefire with the Jewish state. But Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Israel's actions showed any ceasefire call by Abbas was ''worthless''.

The Islamist group and others said they would only consider stopping rocket attacks if Israel first called off all of its military operations in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has rebuffed similar demands in the past, arguing its West Bank operations are essential to preventing militant attacks.

Some 50 Palestinians have been killed in the latest round of factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Israeli air strikes over the last eight days have killed at least 35 Palestinians.

REUTERS AK HS1441

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