Israeli forces kidnapped dozens of Hamas ministers and parliamentarians early Thursday. There were conflicting reports about whether Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer was kidnapped.
Israel's Army Radio said the kidnapped Hamas leaders might be used to trade for a captured soldier in Gaza Strip, but later a military spokesman has denied this claim, adding those "arrested were involved in terror activities." Israel had refused earlier to trade prisoners for the soldier's release.
More than 20 lawmakers were abducted, according to Palestinian security sources. Among them were Palestinian parliament speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik, Labor Minister Mohammed Barghouti, Finance Minister Omar Abdelrazeq, Minister Samir Abu Aysha, Khaled Abu Arfeh and Jerusalem Affairs Ministers Naef Rajoub. The Israeli operation took place in Ramallah, Qalqilyah, Hebron, Jenin and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian reports.
An Israeli military official said a total of 64 Hamas officials were arrested in the early morning roundup.
Head of the PLO Negotiations Department, Dr. Saeb Ereikat condemned the Israeli abduction of eight ministers and 20 parliamentarians. "This crime is an Israeli attempt to destroy the Palestinian Presidency, the Government and the Legislative Council," Ereikat said.
He added that the Israeli crime is a "new chapter" in the international relations in which Israel would exchange a soldier for ministers. Ereikat affirmed that the Israeli kidnappings of ministers and legislators is much bigger than the capture of the Israeli soldier.
He described the Israel attacks as "reoccupying" and an attempt to controle the details of the Palestinian life and individuals.
On his part, Secretary General of Presidency, Tayyeb Abdurrahim, denounced Thursday the Israeli move. Abdurrahim refused all Israeli justifications, affirming that Israel knows well that the abducted ministers have no relations with any military operations.
He told reporters in Ramallah that the Israeli moves are "aggressive acts."
Gaza Strip
Israeli aircraft hit a car carrying Palestinian activists in Gaza City, the Israeli military said Thursday. One person was wounded, hospital officials said. Earlier, An offshoot of Fatah party said it had fired a homemade rocket with a chemical warhead at the southern Israeli town of Sderot late Wednesday, the first such claim.
Israeli army bulldozers moved in Thursday to clear agricultural lands in northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. A small number of tanks entered a buffer zone between southern Israel and Gaza Strip.
Settler executed
Meanwhile, an 18 year old Israeli from the West Bank settlement of Itamar, was found dead by Israeli troops late Wednesday night in the A-Tira neighborhood of Ramallah.
Occupation forces found the body buried in a field. He was kidnapped near Nablus on Sunday.
Palestinian activists from the Popular Resistance Committees said they executed the settler.
On Wednesday morning, a PRC spokesman, displaying the settler's Israeli identification card, told Al-Jazeera satellite TV that he would be "butchered in front of TV cameras" if Israel does not stop its raid on the Gaza Strip, which began in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
