PA security services arrest Hamas members

Palestinian Authority (PA) security services have arrested five citizens affiliated to the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and summoned six others present themselves at a police station. A local website reported on Monday that the PA arrested Najib Mafarjeh, 28, after searching his house in Ramallah. Mafarjeh is a former prisoner of the Israelis and has spent several months in PA prisons.

Before his detention, Mafarjeh refused to attend police stations when he had received a summons from the authorities. He pledged to go on an open-ended hunger and speech strike if arrested.

In Tobas, the PA arrested student Mahmoud Abu-Arra, 20, after he went to a police station in response to a formal summons. In Qalqilya, the security services siezed Baker Barri and Sa’ed Sewwan when they answered summonses telling them to go to a police station. Both have spent months inside PA jails. In Jenin, meanwhile, the PA security officers smashed their way into Obaida Azzam’s house, searched it, damaged a lot of property and arrested him.

All of those arrested are affiliated to Hamas.

The six who have been summoned to appear at local police stations were named as Islam Al-Refa’e, Amr Al-Taher, Mohamed Ghannam, Mahmoud Aseeda, Hazzaa al-Amouri and Qasim Besharat. The latter is the brother of an ex-prisoner released and deported to the Gaza Strip, Said Besharat. Qasim has already been in custody for eight days.

A number of other Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been re-arrested by the Israelis after being released from jail by the PA. Such re-arrests are commonplace and take place after cooperation between the PA security services and the Israeli occupation forces.