Israel goes on spree of Hamas arrests in the West Bank

Published February 4th, 2013 - 01:13 GMT
An Israeli soldier stands guard in front of an amusement park during a military operation carried out to arrest Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday. (AFP PHOTO/SAIF DAHLAH)
An Israeli soldier stands guard in front of an amusement park during a military operation carried out to arrest Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday. (AFP PHOTO/SAIF DAHLAH)

Hamas officials said Israeli forces arrested 23 members of the Palestinian militant group in the West Bank on Monday, Reuters reported.

A statement released by the group said those arrested in overnight raids all over the occupied West Bank included three members of the Palestinian parliament: Ahmed Attoun, Hatem Qafisha and Mohammed al-Talhad, as well as several local Hamas leaders.

"We in the Hamas movement strongly condemn the campaign of arbitrary arrests that took in dozens of Hamas leaders," the statement said. 

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the 23 arrests but would not provide any of the mens' names or say why they had been detained, Reuters reported.

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