Hamas members arrested in dawn raids
The Israeli army arrested 25 Palestinians, including 23 Hamas members, three of whom are politicians, in predawn raids.
Palestinian women hold pictures
of prisoners jailed in Israel in the West Bank city of Nablus Photo: AP
An Israeli military spokesman spoke only to confirm that "25 Palestinians were arrested,
23 of them belonged to Hamas".
Hamas also released a statement which said: "It is a criminal act that will
not succeed in stopping their struggle."
It added: "We in the Hamas movement strongly condemn the campaign of
arbitrary arrests that took in dozens of Hamas leaders." Palestinian sources
said nine members of the movements were arrested in Nablus, with others detained
in Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Ramallah and Hebron.
The three parliament members were named as Hatem Kafisha and Mohammad Al-Tal,
arrested in Hebron, and Ahmad Atoun, detained in Ramallah.
Mr Atoun, who was born in Jerusalem, was expelled from the city in 2011 by
Israel for seeking election as a Hamas politician.
All three are members of the Hamas-backed Change and Reform bloc, which has 74 members in the 132-seat Palestinian Authority Legislative Council.
The IDF also arrested top Hamas figures Adnan Asfour, Baker Bilal and Omar al-Jabarini.
Dr Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO Executive Committee member, accused Israel of "deliberately breaching international law and conventions relating to the immunity of democratically elected Palestinian officials".
She said: "It is apparent the Israeli government is implementing a policy of intimidation and power politics to meddle in Palestinian domestic affairs and to undermine reconciliation efforts." Hamas, which Israel, the United States and the European Union consider a terrorist organisation, won the last Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006.
In 2007, after a unity government collapsed, it seized control of the Gaza Strip from Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.
The two factions signed a reconciliation agreement in 2011 but it has not yet been fully implemented.
Israel has opposed the agreement on the grounds that Hamas does not recognise Israel's right to exist.
Sources in the security services have indicated that the country is planning more arrests of suspected militants in the West Bank to prevent the rising tide of low-intensity conflict and civil unrest from turning into an uprising.
This comes amid an increase in Palestinian unrest which Israel ties to fallout from the eight-day battle between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in November.
All three are members of the Hamas-backed Change and Reform bloc, which has 74 members in the 132-seat Palestinian Authority Legislative Council.
The IDF also arrested top Hamas figures Adnan Asfour, Baker Bilal and Omar al-Jabarini.
Dr Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO Executive Committee member, accused Israel of "deliberately breaching international law and conventions relating to the immunity of democratically elected Palestinian officials".
She said: "It is apparent the Israeli government is implementing a policy of intimidation and power politics to meddle in Palestinian domestic affairs and to undermine reconciliation efforts." Hamas, which Israel, the United States and the European Union consider a terrorist organisation, won the last Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006.
In 2007, after a unity government collapsed, it seized control of the Gaza Strip from Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.
The two factions signed a reconciliation agreement in 2011 but it has not yet been fully implemented.
Israel has opposed the agreement on the grounds that Hamas does not recognise Israel's right to exist.
Sources in the security services have indicated that the country is planning more arrests of suspected militants in the West Bank to prevent the rising tide of low-intensity conflict and civil unrest from turning into an uprising.
This comes amid an increase in Palestinian unrest which Israel ties to fallout from the eight-day battle between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in November.
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