Israelis detain West Bank parliamentarians

Israeli occupation forces have detained five Hamas parliamentarians from several Palestinian cities in the West Bank. The detentions took place early on Friday morning.

In Ramallah, the centre of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, police detained the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Mahmud al-Ramahi. In Tulkarem security forces used armoured vehicles to detain PLC members Fathi al-Qar’awi and Reyad Raddad.

PLC member Imad Nofal from Qalqilya was also detained by the Israeli forces; his children were traumatised when police broke into his home in the early hours. Yasser al-Za’areer’s family had a similarly terrifying experience in Hebron.

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The Israelis also swept into Arrabeh village, south west of Jenin, and broke into the houses of three Islamic Jihad members. Tariq Qidan, whose sister was detained by Israel ten days ago, Jafar Izziddin and Mohammed al-Shaibani were all taken into detention.

Freed prisoner Khader Adnan, a prominent member of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, condemned Israel’s arbitrary detention of Palestinian leaders and the members of his movement. “The Israelis have made these detentions just to cover their loss of face in Gaza,” he insisted.

The arrests came one day after Hamas called for huge demonstrations today to support the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.

The occupied West Bank witnessed large demonstrations during the Israeli offensive against civilians in Gaza. Two Palestinians were killed when clashes erupted between Israeli forces and protestors. The Israeli security services, meanwhile, have blamed the lack of control by the Palestinian Authority for the explosion on a bus in Tel Aviv earlier this week.