Israel arrests Palestinian MPs to distance them from the people, says Deputy Speaker

The Second Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Hassan Khreesheh, said on Tuesday that the increasing Israeli detention of Palestinian MPs is intended to undermine their social and economic roles within their local communities, Al-Resalah newspaper has reported.

“The increasing detention of the MPs and targeting of those who are members of the Change and Reform Bloc [connected to Hamas] is an act to distance them from the people who elected them,” said Khreesheh. “This campaign is a copy of previous drives by the occupation authorities when they kidnapped many MPs. The message is clearly that there is no immunity for any Palestinian, even if they are MPs.”

He added that such campaigns aim to break the will of the Palestinians and undermine the credibility of the elected leadership. “The Palestinian parliament has to convene in order to challenge and undermine the Israeli plans,” said the official. He insisted that this is required in order to face up to the Israeli authorities.

Read: Israel arrests female Palestinian MP

On Monday at dawn, the Israelis arrested the Change and Reform MP Mohamed Al-Tal at his home in the Hebron neighbourhood of Al-Zaheriyeh. Earlier, they arrested Samira Al-Halayqeh MP, also from Hebron, as well as Khalid Tafish MP and Anwar Al-Zaboun MP from Bethlehem. All three belong to the Change and Reform bloc in parliament.

The latest arrests brought the number of Palestinian MPs being held in Israeli jails to 11. Observers have pointed out that the removal of Change and reform MPs from the public arena enhances the electoral chances of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority, the leadership of which regards security collaboration with the Israelis as “sacred”.